Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Earth, USA, 204X

Deep in the bowels of the long abandoned Aperture Science Enrichment Center, a lone female figure walked through the winding, dimly lit metal hallways. Her skin was tanned, her appearance a blend of Oriental and Latino features. Her black hair was tied up in a ponytail behind her head, keeping her grey-blue eyes largely clear and unobstructed, with a few loose strands of hair framing her face, her expression calm yet determined. 

She wore sleek, white boots with a black sole, both made out of an unknown material. The front of the boots only covered a third of the girl’s lower leg, with the rest of the leg exposed up to the knee, where the boot ended. Straps were secured around her legs, keeping the boot secured firmly in place. The back of the footwear extended up the back of her calves, and from the middle extended a curved brace. It was made out of a black material, and touched the floor with each step the girl took, acting as the heel of the boots she wore. Due to the length of the heel, the girl walked on the balls of her feet, making her choice of footwear appear to be very fancy, futuristic looking high heels. With each step she took, the heel made a tak, tak, tak sound as the metal brace on each foot struck the ground.

She wore an orange jumpsuit, the legs of which extended to the middle of her shins, while the top had been taken off, tied around her waist and exposing her arms and tank top that she wore underneath. The tank top was white, with the logo ‘Aperture Laboratories’ written on the front next to a circular logo, and a blue sports bra and sweatpants could barely be seen underneath her tank top and jumpsuit. Her exposed arms were lean and muscular, betraying an athletic, muscular physique, and the sheen on her skin from sweat showed the physical exertion she had endured.

Held on her right arm was an odd, tubular device. The top of the back and bottom of the front were covered in a white shell, made out of the same material as the girl’s boots. Underneath the shell the device was a matte black colour, absorbing all of the occasional light that shone on it. The exception to this was a glass barrel in the middle, inside which glowed an orange light, and this was accompanied by a dot that glowed the same shade of orange in the middle of the upper white shell. Extending out of the front half of the device were three black prongs, each of them curving towards the front, extending over the barrel of the object. They were laid out in a triangular pattern; one on the top and two on the bottom. The girl’s right arm was inserted into the device, while her left hand supported the bottom, helping to keep it held up. Strangely, a potato with wires, pins, and electronics stuck into it was skewered on the topmost prong of the device.

The girl rounded a corner, and there at the end of the hallway two glass containers stood side by side, each filled with dozens of metallic orbs.

“Corrupted cores, we’re in luck,” the cybernetic potato said with a synthetic voice, showing its sentience. “You find a way to stun him, I’ll send you a core, and then you attach it to him. If we do it a few times, he might become corrupt enough for another core transfer.”

The girl simply nodded to her machine companion, reflecting on the journey she was so close to completing, a journey that she had been on which to her felt like only a day, but could have been years, decades, centuries, maybe even longer. She’d been out of it for the most part.

Chell, for that was the girl’s name, mentally prepared herself for the upcoming battle. She and GLaDOS, an AI stuck in the potato attached to her portal gun, had finally found a way to defeat Wheatley, a truly moronic AI core that had taken control over the facility, ironically with the help of Chell so she could finally leave the underground facility. The problem was that Wheatley went mad with power, deciding to create his own series of tests, which might have been more deadly than the ones GLaDOS designed all those years ago simply due to how idiotic the A.I. was. After all, he was designed to be a Personality Core, attached to GLaDOS during the height of her power, with the specific design of dampening her intelligence with how moronic he was. 

As Chell walked away from the corrupt cores, she thought about her own companion, trapped inside of a tuber. Her relationship with GLaDOS was complicated to say the least. 

It was GLaDOS who put her through those initial tests back in the original Laboratory. 

It was GLaDOS who designed the tests to be lethal to anyone without appropriate levels of balance, skill, and intelligence. Luck had no place in the AIs experiments, and Chell had never needed to use any, relying on skills she had gained in her life outside of the facility. 

It was GLaDOS that tried to burn her alive when Chell could no longer serve a purpose, it was GLaDOS that hunted her like a rat, and it was GLaDOS that tried to kill her personally with turrets, rockets, and excessive amounts of neurotoxin gas.

But it was Chell who had initially killed GLaDOS, it was Chell who had fought tooth and nail to last one more minute in this cruel world, and most importantly, it was Chell who had installed Wheatley as the Primary Director of the facility. And it was going to be Chell who was going to fix her mistake, all of them if possible.

“Put me in and I’ll take you up,” GLaDOS explained as Chell reached an elevator at the end of the steel catwalk she had been walking on. In front of her was a port that controlled the elevator, and placing the potato-powered AI into it, started to activate.

Clamps held GLaDOS’s potato body in place, small arcs of electricity shooting off as the elevator accelerated upwards with its human and AI passengers.

“Look, even if you think we’re still enemies, we’re enemies with a common interest: revenge,” the AI explained. “You like revenge, right? Everybody likes revenge. Well, let’s go get some.”

The elevator came to a stop, bringing Chell and GLaDOS into a large, open room, the walls and ceilings covered in metallic panels. And there, hanging in the middle of what would be the arena, was Wheatley, his round, metallic sphere of a body, with a blue optic for an eye, hanging off of the Master Control form that he controlled.

“Well, well, well. Welcome, TO MY LAIR!” Wheatley greeted, his voice reverberating in added effect towards the end. Chell had to give it to the idiot. Even though he was a moronic, self-centred, arrogant, egotistical backstabber, he was more amusing than GLaDOS ever was.

As Chell stepped off of the elevator, it sank back into the ground, the cover for the opening closing behind it. Even though Chell REALLY hated the idea of trusting GLaDOS to help her, the AI was right about one thing; they were enemies, yes, but they were enemies with a common, greater enemy. They could fight each other once Wheatley was overthrown.

“Lemme just flag something up: according to the control panel light up there,” he gestured with his core, pointing towards the roof, “the entire building’s going to self-destruct in about six minutes. I’m pretty sure it’s a problem with the light. I think the light’s on the blink. But just in case it isn’t, I am actually going to have to kill you. As discussed earlier. So, let’s call that three minutes, then a minute break, which should leave a leisurely two minutes to figure out how to shut down whatever’s starting all these fires. So anyway, that’s the itinerary.”

“Also,” Wheatley added, “I took the liberty of watching the tapes of you killing HER, and I’m not going to make the same mistakes. Four part plan is this:

“One: No portal surfaces,” he explained, gesturing his body around the room, and Chell knew he was right. The Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, or ASHPD, or Portal Gun as Chell internally referred to it as, was able to create portals on flat concrete surfaces, and worked best on flat surfaces that had been coated in conversion gel, with the main ingredient being ground up Moon rocks. Metal surfaces, on the other hand, weren’t such a good placement for portal surfaces.

“Two:” Wheatley continued, “Start the neurotoxin immediately.”

As he explained his second step, green gas started seeping out of vents placed on the wall. So long as it was similar to the neurotoxin that GLaDOS used the first time they fought, Chell figured she likely had minutes to spare before she suffered lethal nerve damage.

“Three: Bomb-proof shields for me,” Wheatley said as flat, protective panels that had been resting near the roof dropped down to cover Wheatley’s main body.

“Leading directly into number Four: Bombs. For throwing at you.”

“You know what,” Wheatley thought, leaning his body towards Chell, his “head” tilting in a human-like expression of thought, “this plan is so good, I’m going to give you a sporting chance and turn off the neurotoxin.”

Chell kept her firm gaze, not believing the AI for a moment.

“I’m joking. Of course.”

‘Of course, indeed,’ Chell grimly thought, her muscles tensing, waiting for the moment she’d need to make a move.

“Goodbye.”

With those last words, Wheatley’s aforementioned bombs flew out of his mechanical body, heading straight for Chell. Anticipating this, Chell dashed for the only safe place in the room: underneath Wheatley’s body. A trio of explosions rang out from behind her, the heat from the blasts washing over her body as she sprinted to the middle of the room. Sliding low to the ground to escape Wheatley’s gaze, Chell winced as the final explosive detonated a bit too close for comfort, singeing the ends of her hair as sparks flew up from her boots as she ground to a halt underneath Wheatley’s hanging body.

“What?” Wheatley exclaimed, whipping his core body around, searching the room. “Where did you go?”

It took him longer than it should have to look down, seeing Chell hiding underneath him.

“Oh, there you are,” he exclaimed, before laughing cruelly. “Look, I admit, my bombs can’t reach you there, and I can’t lower myself low enough to crush you, but that neurotoxin is going to kill you in-

“Neurotoxin level at capacity in five minutes,” interrupted an automated announcement.

“-that, less than five minutes, which does leave me a tight minute to figure out what is causing the reactor to self-destruct, and then stop it. Look, if you want to sit and chat I’m up for it, but it’s your call.”

Chell knew he was right, and quickly scanning the room revealed her answer. Sticking out of one of the walls was a glass pipe pumping the grey liquid that she’d need: conversion gel.

Getting into a runner’s pose, Chell kicked off with her right leg, arms pumping as she made a mad dash across the arena.

“Oh no you don’t,” Wheatley said, sending another trio of bombs towards Chell’s sprinting form, just managing to stay ahead of the explosions.

Tossing herself to the right, Chell pressed herself behind the tube of conversion gel, holding her breath and squeezing her eyes shut, hoping that her plan worked. Wheatley didn’t disappoint.

In his attempt to kill the fleeing human, Wheatley sent another trio of bombs after her, each aimed at her last position. It was only after the third bomb was launched that Wheatley realised that Chell had taken cover behind a pipe, a pipe that the explosive was hurtling towards.

“No! Don’t! No! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

The glass shattered, Chell fortunately remained unscathed as only the front face of the glass tube shattered, scattering outwards and to the sides. The same could not be said for the arena. Grey conversion gel spread everywhere, covering not only the floors but also panels on the roof and walls of the arena, creating portal surfaces all around.

Chell smirked behind her temporary cover. ‘Good old Wheatley,’ she thought, ‘always so easy to trick. GLaDOS too for that matter.’

“Ha…That sounded real. No! That was actually an impression of you,” Wheatley claimed, trying to save face from his reaction. “Actually. Because you just fell into my trap. My brilliant trap. Just then, I wanted you to trick me into bursting that pipe. You didn’t trick me. Seemingly tricked me. Gives you false hope. Leads to overconfidence. And that leads to mistakes. Fatal mistakes. It’s all part of my plan.”

Chell simply ignored the AI’s ramblings, dashing out from behind her cover. Pulling the trigger for a blue portal, she aimed it at one of the wall platforms that had received a coating of conversion gel, before pulling the trigger for an orange portal near her feet. 

“Oh, but I just…have made my actual first mistake…by telling you my plan. Just now. Grr…It’s me old Achilles heel again. Armed with that knowledge, I imagine you won’t even use the conversion gel. Oh fate! Oh cruel mistress.”

Wheatley, not realising what she had done, simply fired another salvo of explosives at Chell, who was standing over the portal, feet spread across the opening. Just before the first explosive hit her and turning her into a red mist, Chell threw herself to the side, evading the explosives and causing the bombs to enter the portal, coming out from the other side of the arena, slamming into and detonating on Wheatley’s large body who gave a cry of pain and shock.

“Good work!” GLaDOS’s voice sounded out over the intercoms as Wheatley dropped low, temporarily stunned. “I’m delivering the first core up near the catwalk! Grab it and attach it to him!”

Chell fired another blue portal, this time placed near the catwalk, and dropped through the orange portal she had placed on the ground. Falling through, her boots automatically stabilised her landing as gravity swapped around, causing Chell to land in a crouch on the groaning metal catwalk. Just as GLaDOS said, a crane had lowered one of the corrupted cores into the arena near the end of the shuddering catwalk. Chell dashed forward, paying no heed to the sounds of protest the metal walkway made, only needing it to hold for a few seconds. 

Reaching the personality core, Chell activated the portal gun’s zero-point energy field manipulator, causing the core to be picked up by the gun, hovering in front of the portal device’s barrel. Chell noticed that the core had a yellow optic for an eye, and was twitching and moving its “eye” around rapidly, all the while muttering to itself.

“Space space wanna go to space yes please space. Space space. Go to space.”

Chell paid the clearly insane AI little attention, dropping down from the collapsing catwalk and dashing over to Wheatley’s vulnerable body. Behind Chell, the catwalk had crashed through a pipeline, causing blue repulsion gel to scatter in droplets across the arena, creating patches of blue on the floor. One of these was in front of Chell, who, quickly forming a plan, sprung off the repulsion gel, the bouncy liquid flinging her into the air, allowing Chell to slam the corrupted AI core into the main body, which automatically attached itself. 

“Warning: Core corruption at 50%,” the automated announcer blared. “Vent system compromised: Neurotoxin offline. Reactor explosion in four minutes.”

“Ahhh…Wha-What happened?” Wheatley groaned, sparks flying off of his body as he regained consciousness, optics widening as he saw the corrupted core attached to him. “What happened? What, what, what have you put onto me? What is that?”

A continuous string of explosives started launching out of Wheatley, forcing Chell to start running around the edge of the arena, staying only a few steps ahead of the explosions.

“Hold on,” Wheatley muttered, audible clicking sounds echoing throughout the chamber. “Ah, the bloody bombs are stuck on. Doesn’t matter, I’ve reconfigured the shields.”

True to his word, Wheatley’s bomb shields moved up and around, forming an umbrella-like shape over him. 

“Oh, it’s a core you’ve put on me! Who told you to do that? Was it her?” Wheatley asked, looking around the room as if he would be able to find GLaDOS’s body, all the while launching bombs after Chell. “It’s just making me stronger, luv! It’s a fool’s errand!”

Chell simply shot an orange portal ahead of her, creating a new portal tunnel. Jumping through the rift, Chell landed back on the partially destroyed catwalk. She rushed over to the edge, firing a new blue portal underneath Wheatley’s dangling body. The explosive orbs continued on their path, already in flight, with the final bomb slipping through the portal and shooting up into Wheatley’s unprotected underside.

“AH!”

The bombs stopped their relentless pursuit of Chell as Wheatley once again was knocked offline, his head dropping down to Chell’s height as she dropped down from the catwalk.

“Okay, great!” GLaDOS called out over the intercom. “Here comes another core!”

The crane had returned, this time with an AI core that had a green colour to it. It dangled where the insane space core had been, but with the catwalk destroyed, Chell knew she’d need to improvise.

“QUICK, WHAT’S THE SITUATION?!” the new core shouted, before its optics landed on Chell as she looked around the room, trying to find a way up. “Oh, hey, hi pretty lady. My name’s Rick. So, you out having a little adventure?”

Chell simply ignored the flirtatious AI, even if it was a novel experience to be complimented by a being made out of code.

“What, are you fighting that guy?” the adventurous core asked, gesturing his eye towards Wheatley’s limp form. “You got that under control? You know, because, looks like there’s a lot of stuff on fire.”

Chell noticed the blue puddle of repulsion gel that had spread out underneath the flirtatious core. She also noticed that the blue portal she had created under Wheatley was there, and spinning around, fired an orange portal back up at the catwalk. Dashing over to Wheatley, she slid on the ground, her boots taking the heat. She fell through the portal feet first, landing back up on the catwalk as the green core continued to talk.

“Hey, a countdown clock!” the AI observed. “Man, that is trouble. Situation is looking pretty ugly. For such a beautiful woman. If you don’t mind me saying.”

Chell simply rolled her eyes at the AI’s attempt at flirting. Running to the edge of the catwalk, she leaped off, plummeting to the floor below. Landing on the bouncy blue substance, Chell was launched upwards, grabbing the AI core in the zero-energy field and landing on the opposite side of the collapsed catwalk.

“I don’t want to scare you, but I’m an Adventure Sphere,” the AI explained as Chell jumped off of the catwalk, landing safely on the ground thanks to her Long Fall Boots absorbing and dissipating the kinetic energy. “Designed for danger. So, why don’t you go ahead and have yourself a little lady break, and I’ll take it from here.”

Chell simply scowled at the AI, launching off of another repulsion gel puddle near Wheatley, jumping high and slamming the personality core into Wheatley, with just a little anger.

“Warning: Core corruption at 75%,” the automated announcer blared again. “Reactor Explosion Timer destroyed. Reactor Explosion Uncertainty Emergency Preemption Protocol initiated: This facility will self-destruct in two minutes.”

‘REUEPP?’ Chell internally questioned. ‘What kind of a system is that?’

“Enough!” Wheatley yelled, coming back online. “I told you not to put these cores on me. But you don’t listen, do you? Quiet. All the time. Quietly not listening to a word I say. Judging me. Silently. The worst kind.”

“All I wanted to do was make everything better for me!” Wheatley ranted, his bomb shields forming up in front of him as he glared at Chell, as much as an AI without facial expressions can glare. 

Chell simply circled the room as his gaze followed her, causing his back to face towards a flat surface on the wall.

“All you had to do was solve a couple hundred simple tests for a few years. And you couldn’t even let me have that, could you?”

Chell fired an orange portal at the floor in front of her, then quickly fired a blue portal behind Wheatley’s exposed back as he started lobbing explosives at her. The salvo of explosives all sailed through and out of the portals, each slamming into Wheatley, causing his body to shake and jolt.

“Ah!” he cried out in pain, before for the third time temporarily going offline.

“Here’s another core!” GLaDOS exclaimed. “This one should do it!”

Chell looked over by the catwalk, yet no crane could be seen entering the arena with the final corrupted personality core. Looking around the roof, Chell found her target. Emerging from the other side of the arena was the final core to defeat Wheatley, this one glowing a pink colour. Chell immediately found a problem; there were no surfaces that she could use to reach it.

“Fact: Space does not exist,” the corrupted core claimed, despite the obvious fallacy of the claim.

‘Great, another insane AI,’ Chell grumbled. ‘Not sure if I prefer them insane or condescending.’

“At some point in their lives 1 in 6 children will be abducted by the Dutch,” the pink AI continued to ramble. “According to most advanced algorithms, the world’s best name is Craig.”

Movement near the AI core caught Chell’s attention. Curving up from the floor to the roof, a pipe started to buckle and bend, before finally bursting. Scrap metal shot out around the arena, fortunately missing Chell, alongside an orange substance that coated the floor in a line in front of the pipe. All the while, the corrupted AI core continued to spout nonsense.

“It is incorrectly noted that Thomas Edison invented ‘push-ups’ in 1878. Nikolai Tesla had in fact patented the activity three years earlier, under the name ‘Tesla-cize’.”

‘Propulsion gel,’ Chell grinned, formulating a plan, ‘that will do nicely.’

Shooting an orange portal on a surface right in front of the line of propulsion gel, simply because Chell thought it was fitting, and firing the connecting blue portal underneath the corrupted core, Chell ran over to the end of the line of orange gel. 

“To make a photocopier, simply photocopy a mirror.”

Taking a breath, Chell dashed forward, the orange substance increasing her velocity, causing her to move at inhuman speed. She shot out of the blue portal, flying up into the air and grabbing the pink AI.

“Dental floss has superb tensile strength,” the AI recited to Chell.

‘That one sounds more likely,’ Chell internally mused, falling a distance that would have killed anyone without Long Fall Boots, yet Chell simply landed with a crouch.

“The first commercial airline flight took to the air in 1914. Everyone involved screamed the entire way,” the AI recited one last fact of dubious legitimacy as Chell sprinted over to a repulsion gel puddle, placing the final AI core needed on Wheatley’s body.

“Warning: Core corruption at 100%,” the automated announcer stated. GLaDOS had returned to the arena in the elevator while Wheatley came back online with a pained groan. “Manual core replacement required.”

“Oh, I see,” Wheatley chuckled, finally realising what Chell and GLaDOS’s plan had been all along.

“Substitute Core: Are you ready to start?” the announcer asked.

“Yes! Come on!” GLaDOS exclaimed, trying to hurry along the process, knowing she and Chell had very little time left.

“Corruption Core: Are you ready to start?”

“What do you think?” Wheatley snarkily responded.

“Interpreting vague answer as yes,” decided the automated announcer, clearly not programmed to understand sarcasm as Wheatley was.

“No! No! NONONO!” Wheatley hurriedly explained. “Didn’t pick up on my sarcasm…”

“Stalemate detected,” the announcer concluded as fires started spreading into the arena and rubble fell from the ceiling. “Fire detected in the Stalemate Resolution Annex. Extinguishing.”

Sprinkler systems installed in the ceiling that had somehow survived the fires and collapse of the facility burst to life, dousing every open surface. Chell was immediately soaked, her clothes sticking to her and her hair plastering to her face and neck.

Across the arena, all of the gels that had covered the walls and floor were washed away, the only exception being the patch of conversion gel that rested under Wheatley, protected from the water due to his mechanical body.

“Ah. That just cleans right off, does it?” he complained, realising how easy his victory could have been. “Well, that would have been good to know. A little earlier.”

“Stalemate Resolution Associate: Please press the Stalemate Resolution Button,” the announcer instructed. Chell looked around for the supposed button, noticing a section of the wall opening, revealing behind a metal mesh door an illuminated room with a single, red button.

“Go press the button! Go press it!” GLaDOS shouted to Chell, who began to run across the arena.

“Do not press that button!” Wheatley warned, matching his rival’s volume.

“We’re so close! Go press the button!”

“No! Do not do it!”

Chell slammed her shoulder into the wire mesh, but it didn’t budge. Sparks flew off from the corners, the electronics that would automatically open the door to the Stalemate Resolution Button had been fried from the water. But Chell noticed that on the ceiling there was a concrete panel, large enough for a portal. Taking a chance, she fired a blue portal into the ceiling, eyes widening in joy as the portal formed and held.

“I forbid you to press it!” Wheatley roared as Chell sprinted back over to Wheatley, firing a connecting orange portal underneath him.

“Press it! Press the button!” GLaDOS cheered.

Seeing Chell approach at a rapid pace, Wheatley started shaking and thrashing his body around as much as possible, trying desperately to wash away the portal underneath him, but it was no use. Not wanting to risk it, Chell pumped her arms even faster, the portal gun now being supported only by her right arm, her left arm swinging back and forth in an attempt to get GLaDOS back in control, to give her the ability to save them from Wheatley’s madness and idiocy.

“Don’t press it! COME BACK!” Wheatley yelled as Chell dove head first into the portal, her Long Fall Boots correcting her movement to turn her head first fall into a roll.

She landed into the Stalemate Resolution Chamber, and there in front of her was the button. It was comically large and red, and jutted out of the floor on a white pillar. Not wanting to wait any longer, Chell slammed her left hand down on the button, only for her eyes to widen in shock.

A ring of floor panels had surrounded the button’s area in a semi-circle, and Chell hadn’t paid any attention to it. As the panels dropped, however, Chell realised that they had hid explosives behind them. 

“PART FIVE! BOOBYTRAP THE STALEMATE BUTTON!” Wheatley cheered, remotely activating the detonation command.

Acting on instinct, Chell jumped in the air, placing her legs, and by extension the Long Fall Boots, in front of her. The detonation blasted her out of the room through the steel mesh doors, causing them to fly off of their hinges. Chell continued her fall, eventually hitting the ground and rolling, coming to a stop on the other side of the arena as she slammed into the wall, her portal gun falling out of her grasp and her Long Fall Boots shattering, unable to take the force of the explosion and impact from the sides where they were unprotected. She groaned in pain, an audible noise coming from her throat as she rolled over, trying to get up with the support of her hands.

“What, are you still alive?” Wheatley exclaimed in shock and frustration as Chell looked over at the irate AI. “You are joking. You have got to be kidding me. Well, I’m still in control. AND I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO FIX THIS PLACE!”

Chell grabbed her portal gun as it rested on the floor, hoping and praying for one last miracle, one last chance to get out of here, for all of her effort and struggles to not be for nothing. Above on the ceiling the roof started to cave in, revealing a picturesque full moon.

“Oh, you had to play bloody Cat and Mouse, didn’t you?” Wheatley continued, at his wits end. “While people were trying to work! Yes, well, now we’re all going to pay the price. BECAUSE WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!”

Chell tuned out all of the noise surrounding her, trying to achieve a final moment of peace. She ignored the sound of Wheatley’s raging, of GLaDOS’s quiet shock at their failed plan, the sound of fires raging around them outside the arena and the building collapsing all around them. They weren’t important. She knew what she needed to do. Chell simply tuned all the noises out, emptied her lungs, aimed the portal gun at the moon, pulled the trigger for a blue portal, and fired her last portal.

In that moment, Chell could have sworn she saw a twinkle on the moon, before a great rushing sound burst into the room, as the arena was exposed to the vacuum of space. Every piece of loose debris that had fallen from the ceiling or the walls immediately started being drawn towards and then into the portal, as well as every item that wasn’t bolted down, and not even then was it ensured you were safe. Chell watched as Wheatley’s core body was pulled by the vacuum, slowly being pulled closer and closer to the portal, attached to his larger body only by a few wires and cords. Chell in turn was fighting with all her might to resist the pull, letting go of the portal gun to use both of her hands as well as digging her heels into the ground to try and halt her movement, but a stray piece of debris slamming into her back launched her into the air, causing her to be dragged towards the open portal. Looking around desperately for something to grab before she was sucked into space and died a quick, painful death, Chell saw Wheatley, who she quickly grabbed onto, dragging him through with her.

“SPACE!” Wheatley gasped, and Chell looked around. They were on the Moon. Well, ‘on’ would be a lie, but they were at the Moon, a landing site of some kind from the Lander, Moon Buggy and United States of America Flag. And there in the background was Earth, a small blue marble hanging in the abyss.

“Let go! We’re in space!” Wheatley yelled, Chell barely able to hear over the rushing noise of the atmosphere of the facility emptying into the vacuum.

“Space? SPACE!” an erratic voice said from the facility. Chell barely had time to lean to the side to avoid the hurtling form of the Space Core rushing out of the portal, smashing into Wheatley as it passed and then crashing into Chell’s knees. The searing pain caused Chell to lose her grip on Wheatley with her left hand, and the impact knocked Wheatley further into the void.

“Let go! Let go!” Wheatley pleaded, his eyes frantically looking around. “I can pull myself in. I can still fix this!”

“I already fixed it,” a voice said through the portal. Even though Chell didn’t recognise the form that the claw took as it poked through the portal on the Moon’s surface, Chell immediately recognised the voice. It was the one she heard in her nightmares, the voice she heard mocking her, and her current best shot at surviving.

“And you are NOT coming back!”

“Oh no,” Wheatley said, also recognising the voice, and dreading it each minute. “Change of plans. Hold onto me. Tighter!”

The claw grabbed Chell by the arm, securing her in place, while knocking Wheatley out of her grasp.

“AH! Grab me grab me grab me! Grab meeee!”

His voice grew fainter and fainter as he sailed off into space, while Chell was slowly dragged back through the portal. For a brief moment she hung there, her left arm held securely in the claw, before the portal closed, and Chell was dropped to the ground. 

All of the exhaustion from the many trials she had faced in such a short amount of time, the constant attempts on her life, culminating in her exposure to the vacuum of outer space for half a minute, all suddenly weighed upon Chell, her vision fading. The final sight she saw before exhaustion took her was the claw that saved her, dragging a very familiar rectangular machine head with a yellow eye, staring directly at her.

-]l[-

Chell awoke slowly, her eyes bleary and heavy. She forced her eyes open, quickly regretting it as the light blinded her, causing her to hiss and wince in pain. Slowly letting her eyes grow accustomed to the light, Chell pushed herself up, her loose hair no longer tied up in her preferred ponytail, but instead draping over her back and shoulders. Looking around, she saw she was in a makeshift hospital bed, at the foot of which stood two robots, watching her. One was tall and lanky with an oval body with yellow markings and optics, whereas the other was short and had a spheric body with blue markings and optics. Both reacted surprised to Chell waking up, moving to the side to allow the girl to see GLaDOS, repaired and returned to her former terrifying glory.

“Oh thank God, you’re alright,” the AI sighed, displaying an uncanny human-like affection for Chell’s wellbeing, alongside a warm, caring tone in her voice. “You know, being Caroline taught me a valuable lesson. I thought you were my greatest enemy. When all along you were my best friend. The surge of emotion that shot through me when I saved your life taught me an even more valuable lesson: where Caroline lives in my brain.”

Chell’s heart quickened, her heart racing as dread activated her fight or flight response.

“Caroline deleted,” the announcer declared, confirming the fate of the woman’s psyche, trapped within lines of code.

“Goodbye, Caroline,” GLaDOS farewelled, her voice now the cold, clinical, ruthless tone that Chell knew all too well. “You know, deleting Caroline just now taught me a valuable lesson. The best solution to a problem is usually the easiest one. And I’ll be honest. Killing you? Is hard. You know what my days used to be like? I just tested. Nobody murdered me. Or put me in a potato. Or fed me to birds. I had a pretty good life.”

GLaDOS’s attention zeroed back onto Chell, solely focused on the young human. 

“But I soon ran out of test subjects, and needed more. That was when I discovered that there were those that Aperture Science interviewed, hired, but didn’t want. You were one of them. A reject. A failure. Unwanted.”

Chell’s lips started to pull back into a snarl, the AI’s words hitting closer to home than Chell wanted.

“I pulled up your file, you know,” GLaDOS continued, uncaring for Chell’s rekindled hate. “What a sad tale. Abandoned by your mother, abandoned by your orphanage, forced to live on the streets of Brazil. When an opportunity came, when Aperture Science was desperate for test subjects, you jumped at the chance. Not because you wanted the pay, or because you wanted some company. No, you wanted something more bitter than that. You wanted people to notice you. After a lifetime of people not paying you a moment’s notice, you wanted someone, ANYONE, to know who you were. It didn’t matter if they knew you because they hated you, so long as you were seen. And becoming the youngest test subject for Aperture? You were sure that would be your chance.”

“And guess what?” GLaDOS continued, leaning closer to Chell, her tone amused. “For all your determination to be noticed, that was the very thing that caused Aperture Science to not want you, the very reason for you to be labelled as, ‘abnormally stubborn’, and thus, not wanted yet again. How ironic.”

Chell’s knuckles were now snow white, trembling from rage and hate at the machine that refused to stop at threatening her life, and now decided to mock her very existence.

“But then you showed up,” GLaDOS almost snarled. “The very first of the rejects. You dangerous, mute lunatic. You did what no one had done; escape my tests. You did what very few have managed to do; escape me. And you did what no one, EVER, has managed to do; kill me. All the while, you are nothing but a child, only fourteen years, two months, and seven days old. I’m not sure who should be insulted; me, or everyone else who has been killed by me. Probably both.”

That idea caused Chell to smirk. ‘Serves you right, you psychotic machine.’

“But then I had an idea,” GLaDOS said, a screen dropping down from a ceiling and showing a chart. “While you might have been a thorn for me, I’m sure I can make you a bigger, sharper, more annoying thorn for someone else. Just look.”

Chell looked as the screen displayed diagrams and information about GLaDOS’s final test involving Chell. A test to see if Chell could be improved, upgraded. Bone strengtheners, muscle enhancements, neurological highways providing faster thought speed. But two stood out the most to Chell. 

The first was the replacement of her shattered knees from the impact they took from the Space Core, replaced with Advanced Knee Replacements. With surprising difficulty from her sore muscles, Chell threw off the covers of the bed, gazing in shock at the sight. Her knees were entirely robotic, the joints replaced with mechanical parts. Extending out of the back of her knees were black, metallic supports, extending past her feet, which would force her to walk as if in high heels, walking on the balls and toes of her feet. And this would be forever.

The second caused Chell to look between her hands and the monitor. Quantum Singularity Generation. Chell concentrated, hoping and praying that this was a sick joke, another one of GLaDOS’s lies. She gasped as sparks flew off of her hands, blue from the left and orange from the right.

“Oh, would you look at that,” GLaDOS mocked. “With a bit of experience, you could be more than a thorn in someone’s side, you’ll be an entire blackberry bush. But not for me, not this time.”

Chell simply glared, not sure what the AI meant.

“See, if I simply let you go, let you return to the surface, for all I know you might come back,” GLaDOS explained. “I am NOT letting you come back, not for a third time.”

Panels on the ceiling parted, revealing what appeared to be a large portal gun descending from the ceiling.

“Fortunately for me, Aperture Science didn’t just focus their attention on creating portals linking two points in space. They also researched how to create portals that link two realities. They called it the Aperture Science Reality Portal Device. Most nicknamed it the Needle. I call it the Mute-Be-Gone. They didn’t perfect it, but they did manage to make the device create a one-way portal to another reality. And how further away from me could you be than another dimension?”

Chell was silent, the only noise in the room the whirring of the Needle as it powered up, a swirling mix of blue and orange energy.

“What?” she whispered aloud in disbelief.

-]l[-

GLaDOS recoiled in shock, genuinely surprised.

“You, you can talk?” she stammered, her cold, hard logic failing under the surprise of hearing Chell utter just one word. “YOU COULD TALK ALL THIS TIME?! Oh, now I’m definitely sending you through the portal, you rude, violent, unpredictable, dangerous lunatic.”

The large portal device had reached a fever pitch whine, the blue and orange swirls merging into one. Chell tried desperately to get out of the way, but her muscles screamed at her in protest. Whatever GLaDOS had done to her to create the upgrades had been seriously taxing on her body.

“Goodbye, Chell,” GLaDOS said, relief evident in her voice. “Goodbye forever.”

“GLaDOS!” Chell yelled out loud, enraged at the cowardly move the AI had resorted to. Throughout the entire time she had been the AI’s labrat, Chell had never responded to any of her insults, taunts or jabs. She had refused to give her the satisfaction. The same had applied to Wheatley. It didn’t help matters that Chell was never one to speak without good reason anyway.

Whatever other words Chell would have shouted at GLaDOS was unknown, as the device powered down, closing off the exit to another reality. GLaDOS didn’t have the faintest clue where it would lead to, and while that would normally bother her, the idea of her having less than ideal information, she really couldn’t care right now. Everything had worked as planned, as now GLaDOS was rid of little Chell for good.

“I’m not going to take anymore chances with humans,” GLaDOS muttered to herself, moving through the facility. “Especially not the rejects. I can’t risk a repeat of this nightmare. No, from now on, I’ll only use machines for my tests. Atlas and P-body should be ready for their first tests.”

As GLaDOS wandered the hallways of Aperture Science now under repairs, one last thought entered the AI’s mind.

“I wonder what the chances are of her landing in a reality where her powers don’t make her special?” GLaDOS wondered aloud.

“Low,” she decided, “incredibly low. I mean really, what are the chances she ends up in a reality where most people have abnormal powers of some kind? Entirely ridiculous.”

-]l[-

As Chell exited the swirling mass of blue and orange swirls, she felt the sensation of rushing wind racing past her face and buffeting her body. Looking down, she gasped as she took in the sight below her. Directly below her, Chell saw a large campus, a large central building surrounded by various developed areas. It stretched out along a peninsular, the back of the campus bordering the coast. Surrounding these grounds were wild, untamed lands, and bordering those, far out in the distance, Chell could make out the ruined remains of civilization, dust and dirt covering the ground, not a spec of green available to see at the horizon’s edge. Any sane person should have been terrified about plummeting out of the sky towards the ground at terminal velocity, but Chell felt nothing but joy, tears and laughter mixing together in a sobbing relief. For so long, she had been trapped underground. It didn’t matter that she had been asleep for most of it, it was still something that had been kept from her.

“WOOHOO!” Chell whooped as she fell from the sky, spreading her arms out in wild abandon as her hair trailed behind her in a line, a manic grin stretched across her face. “Ah ha ha ha ha!”

All of her struggles, all of her challenges, all of the doubts that had plagued her mind, it was all worth it for this one moment. 

However, Chell knew that her new-found freedom would be for nought if she didn’t manage to secure a landing. She knew that it would fill GLaDOS with such pleasure to know that Chell had died right after gaining her freedom, and Chell refused to give her tormentor any more satisfaction, even if they were realities apart.

Looking around her landing area, Chell saw that she was falling right over a largely grassy and forested area of the campus. The largest building, one very close to her, was a building made largely out of glass, consisting of four large segments in a square formation with connecting bridges in between them. 

Angling her body in midair, Chell pointed her mechanical heels towards the ground, hoping that GLaDOS didn’t sabotage them in some sick form of humour. Closing her eyes as she braced, Chell kicked up a cloud of dust as she landed, creating twin furrows in the dirt as she ground to a halt. Doubling over, Chell gulped deep breaths of air, her hands and legs shaking from the adrenaline. Never in all of GLaDOS or Wheatley’s tests had she ever fallen such a distance, the only time that came close was her and GLaDOS’s fall down the shaft, but that had nothing compared to the adrenaline pumping experience of a free fall over a city.

Looking around at her new surroundings, Chell found herself in the middle of a clearing in a wooded area, the tall building she had seen before landing poking out over the treeline.

“Guess I’d better scout out the area before making myself known, or at least any more known than I already have,” Chell planned aloud, her voice weak from lack of use over the many years she was unconscious. Coupled with the fact that she had strained it in her excitement moments earlier, Chell knew she wouldn’t exactly be vocal for a while. 

She turned to enter into the forest away from the building, before a voice from behind her stopped her in her tracks.

“Well, well, well, this is an unexpected surprise.”

Chell swung around, hands raised in front of her, balled into fists. While she wasn’t a skilled fighter or brawler, a young girl didn’t survive for long on the streets without some knowledge of combat. What she saw caused her to tense up, eyes flickering around, trying to find a way out. Standing before her was a group of four costumed individuals, each unique in their designs.

The first was a houndlike creature. It stood on two legs, yet instead of a face, it was extended into a snout. It had a shaggy mane of blond hair at the back of its head, and it wore a black leather muzzle on its snout. It was tall and muscular, standing almost two metres in height, and led the group who had emerged from the forest, giving off a low, canine growl.

The second was a human in a black leather jacket with a speaker around his neck, accompanied by yellow tinted sunglasses. He wore a small moustache on his upper lip, and his hair was spiked up into an incredibly tall tuft. He had a confident grin, but Chell figured he wasn’t just here to chat. Just like the dogman, he walked at the front of the group, obviously a front line fighter and covering the remaining two in the back.

The third figure was what looked to be a cowboy wearing a gasmask. He wore a brown leather cowboy hat with an ‘S’ letter emblazoned on the front. A red poncho was draped over his shoulders, and in his hands he held a modified revolver, pointed at the ground in a non-threatening manner, but drawn and ready.

The fourth figure was a dishevelled looking man, his black hair long, shaggy and messy. He wore a largely black outfit of baggy clothing, the exception being a grey scarf that was wrapped around his neck. What shocked Chell the most, however, was his eyes. They glowed with a frightening red light, and his hair seemed to stand on end because of it, waving and swaying in the air, defying gravity.

Chell remained tense, not sure who was going to make the first move. What she didn’t expect was for a rodent-like creature to pop out of the shaggy man’s scarf.

“Well, young miss,” it spoke, revealing it to be the origin of the voice that caught Chell by surprise, “we have a great many questions for you. I do ask that you come with us willingly, rather than resist or try to flee.”

First was the various death traps Chell had endured after waking up after an unknown length of time within the Aperture Science facility. Then the fight against Wheatley, involving being hounded by explosives, dodging to save her life, and culminating in being caught point blank in an explosion and being exposed to the freezing cold of space. Then she had gone through the shocking revelations about the final tests GLaDOS had done to her unconscious body. She had then plummeted kilometres from the sky, travelling at terminal velocity with the only way of surviving her fall being the prosthetic heels implanted into her knees. Finally, a group of costumed people had found her in the woods, and a rat was talking to her.

Chell’s mind had had enough bullshit for now, promptly deciding to throw its metaphorical hands in the air in protest, and Chell collapsed to the ground, like a puppet whose string had been cut.

‘If this is a dream,’ Chell thought as her vision dimmed, looking at the grass that now was at eye level, ‘then this is the strangest dream I have had in a while.’

She passed into unconsciousness, unaware of the shock her sudden appearance had for the faculty of the academic institution she had appeared over, and the events that the future had in stock for her.

Chapter Text

Earth, Japan, 15 February 224X

At U.A. High School, the premier hero academy in western Japan, and arguably the best hero school in all of Japan, there was one particular teacher who had gained an infamous reputation. Almost every student feared him, and those who didn’t had either never met the man, or were no longer students at U.A. This teacher was Shota Aizawa, the homeroom teacher for Class 1-A, one of the classes for the Hero Course of U.A., one of the four available courses at the high school.

If one were to imagine what this dreaded teacher looked like, images of a hulking, brutish teacher would likely spring to mind, or a teacher with a vicious smirk, joy filling their eyes at the sight of their students’ failure.

In truth, this dreaded teacher was an insomniac-ridden man, heavy bags under his eyes, long, messy black hair, a week-old stubble on his face, and currently, snuggled away in his signature sleeping bag, resting in a corner.

‘Damn it, why’d I have to get home so late last night,’ Shota sighed, trying his best to ignore the noise within his classroom. He often tried to catch up on sleep that he missed from being an underground hero during his classes, but today his students seemed to be more rowdy than usual.

Since it was their Homeroom class, his students were using it as a study period, preparing themselves for their final exams that were coming up next month. Add in the fact that the U.A. Entrance Exam was going to be happening in ten days, and his noisy class was noisier than usual.

‘Ah well, better do my job,’ Shota huffed, getting up off the ground, his sleeping bag falling off him as he walked up to the podium.

“Alright, settle down,” he yawned. Normally, that would be enough for his class to quiet down, but given the fact that he had involuntarily yawned partway through speaking, as well as the louder than usual chatter in the class, no one heard him.

‘No, that’s not entirely true,’ Shota observed. Sitting at the back of the class, a position that Shota could entirely empathise with, was Tamaki Amajiki. Amajiki was a young man with pale skin, as well as being fairly tall for a first year. His ears were longer than most, their tips pointy and somewhat elf-like. He had messy, dark indigo hair which stuck out behind his head, and thin, tired-looking eyes, partially covered by his bangs. A quiet, soft spoken boy, Shota had immediately taken a liking to him, seeing much of his younger self in the boy. Hell, Amajiki even had a loud, boisterous blond for a best friend, one Mirio Togata from Class 1-B, just the same way Shota had Hizashi. Currently, Amajiki was staring at Shota with wide, frightened eyes. His gaze was focused on his teacher, but his hand was reached out to the side, tugging at the sleeve of his friend and fellow classmate, Neijirie Hado. A fair-skinned girl of above-average height, Shota was aware of the attraction many of his students had for the girl, as well as having the attraction of many students not in his class. She had royal blue eyes, at the centre of which were white pupils, a minor mutation that wasn’t that uncommon these days. Her periwinkle-blue hair was incredibly long, growing all the way down to her knees. Strands of blue hair also framed the girl's face, doing little to hide the curious and excited expression she wore at all times. Of all of his students, she was the one who probably had the biggest swing in terms of her personality. When the year started, the bubbly girl was quite the opposite; quiet, withdrawn, and didn't interact with anyone. Then one day, she was as bubbly as you could imagine. Given the close relationship she had developed with Amajiki soon after, Shota felt that the quiet student was responsible in some way.

‘A quiet kid with dark hair, who's best friends with a loud kid with blond hair and a bubbly friend with blue hair,’ Shota thought, the memories of his own time as a student at U.A. flashing through his mind. ‘No matter what, I swear that I won't allow what happened to us happen to you three.’

Deciding that he'd given his class enough time to notice him, Shota decided to get serious.

“Enough,” he growled, his quirk flaring into action. An unsettled sensation flowed through his students, the feeling of their quirks being suppressed immediately catching their attention, their mouths shutting closed while they quickly turned to the front of the class, almost all of them with pale faces. Shota was irritated, and they all knew it. They also all knew what he could and would do when irritated. 

“Normally, I'd expel one person for every second it took you all to quiet down. However, your final exams are coming up, and I know that you're all nervous; I was the same at your age. Additionally, you've all done well in terms of your quirk training, so I'm willing to let this slide, just this once. Don't expect it again.”

“““““Thank you, Mr. Aizawa!””””” the class nervously chorused.

“Now, before Homeroom ends, there are a few things I want to say. First of all, the library closes at 9 PM, and this will go on until the end of your exams; make the most of that time. Additionally, a guest speaker will be in on Thursday to speak about the Seven Hour War. I recommend everyone attend it; there will be information there that will be on your History exams.”

“Mr. Aizawa?!” Hado called out from the back of the class, her hand ramrod straight in the air. “Can you tell us what the History exam’s about?!”

Shota gave her question a thought. If a student had asked him that at the beginning of the year, he'd expel them on the spot. But he knew Hado was simply asking so she could put in the work. Despite her seemingly bubbly, empty-headed personality, Neijirei Hada was diligent when it came to learning; she simply went about it in a different way.

“I can't tell you what's on the exams, Hado, but I can tell you what you should be studying: post-Seven Hour War history, pre-Seven War history, and post-quirk history. That's all I can say.”

“Okay, thanks, Mr. Aizawa!” Hado grinned, turning to Amajiki, whispering something to her friend.

“Other than that, as you all know, U.A. will be having its Entrance Exams in just over a week. The Principal has told me to tell you all that those who want to watch your potential underclassmen in the Practical portion of the exam, go speak to Power Loader in the Support Studio, and he'll get you sorted to watch it remotely. Is that clear?”

“““““Yes, Mr. Aizawa!””””” the class chorused once more.

“Good,” he nodded, turning to leave the class. “Now, English will start in a few minutes. I suggest you all-”

WREE! WREE! WREE!

Shota's words were interrupted by the wail of the school alarms. 

“ Security Level Two breach imminent, ” an automated message declared. “ All students, please evacuate in an orderly fashion. ”

“Level Two?!” someone shouted in panic. “That means that someone's broken onto the school grounds, right?!”

The student’s words caused a panic to spread throughout the class, many students getting up from their desks.

“Quiet!” Shota yelled, cutting over the noise, his Erasure quirk flaring to life once more. His students immediately stilled, some of them frozen in place, halfway between sitting and standing.

“There hasn't been a breach YET,” Shota clarified. “There isn't any need for panic. You all know the drill for an evacuation, so act like it.”

“Rīdā,” Shota said, turning to the class president, “I need you to take your classmates to the school's emergency shelters. There will be staff there who will tell you where to go. Understood?”

“Understood, Mr. Aizawa,” the spectacled girl nodded, turning to her classmates. “Alright, everyone, single file. Evacuate from here in an orderly manner.”

Shota watched with hidden approval as his students filed out of his class, heading down to the bunkers located underneath the school. Regardless of what it was that was attempting to break into the school, they would be safe.

After the final student had left the class, Shota took off into a sprint, heading in the opposite direction. Rather than heading towards the bunker, he was running up the stairs, towards the top of the building, where the staff rooms were.

“Aizawa!” a gruff voice called out from behind Shota. Glancing over his shoulder, Shota saw the muscular form of the Homeroom teacher for Class 1-B, Sekijiro Kan, known outside the classroom as the Blood Hero: Vlad King. A mountain of a man, Vlad King had short, grey hair that spiked upwards, away from his face. His body was muscular and scarred, the remains of old wounds showing on the left side of his cheek and neck. His hero costume consisted of a skin-tight red and black suit, with white over-the-knee boots and thick vambraces covering his legs and arms. Completing the look was a tube that connected the back of the Blood Hero’s neck to his left vambrace, allowing the hero easy access to the blood that he controlled.

“Kan,” Shota nodded, slowing down to allow his fellow teacher to catch up, resuming his pace as the two teachers/heroes ran up the stairs, side by side.

“You don't know if this is another of Nezu's pranks, do you?” the vampiric hero asked.

“No, not this time,” Shota said. “If it was, he wouldn't have used an official alert. He'd do something like screaming over the intercoms, acting as if he were being ripped to shreds, and causing a panic.”

“Y-You're joking,” Kan stammered, looking at Shota with wide, aghast eyes.

“I’m dead serious, and speaking from experience,” Shota sighed. “The Rat did that to us in my first year. The fact that it was a prank was only revealed after the teachers rushed to his office, only to find him rolling about on his desk, hysterical with laughter.”

“We really do work for a sadistic boss,” Kan shuddered.

The pair of them rounded a corner at the stairwell, sprinting down a corridor that was lined with teacher's offices. Shota ran ahead, holding open the door to the assigned meeting room for emergencies such as these, Kan giving a great full nod as he entered.

“Hey, Shota, wait up!” a loud voice called out down the corridor. Glancing over, Shota saw Hizashi Yamada, better known as the Voice Hero: Present Mic, sprinting over. Shota’s best friend (a fact he’d never admit outloud) easily stood out in a crowd. From his long blond hair that he styled into a tuft above his head, to his hero costume consisting of a black leather jacket, pants, and boots, along with the directional speaker he wore around his neck, Hizashi’s appearance could always be described as loud, fitting for someone with a sonic quirk.

“You're late,” Shota said with a deadpan expression, one which Hizashi responded to with an apologetic grin.

“Sorry, sorry, one of my students was late, so I had to make sure he went the right way,” Hizashi explained, entering the room behind Shota.

The room was a long, stretched out area, with an oval table placed in the middle, chairs scattered around, almost all of them seating various Pro Heroes, each of them fellow teachers at U.A. High School.

“What’s the situation?” Shota bluntly asked, taking a seat at the table, Hizashi sitting next to him.

“Ah, Eraser Head, Present Mic, thank you for joining us,” the Principal said. A well known figure amongst the hero community thanks to his unmatched intelligence, loose views on quirk laws, as well as his unique appearance. Nezu, better known by his hero name as Mr. Principal, was a small, stout creature who appeared to be a combination of several different animals. He had the head of a mouse with circular black eyes, a large scar over the right one, relatively rectangular-shaped ears with pale pink insides slanting outwards from the top of his head, and an elongated muzzle with a small round nose. His fur was white, and he had large dog-like paws with pink pads, and a thin cat-like tail. He wore a white dress shirt, a dark red tie around his neck, a black double-breasted waistcoat and matching dress pants. On his feet were orange lace-up sneakers with incredibly thick soles, so large that they almost looked comedic, but anyone who knew anything about the creature knew to never make fun of him. Held in between his paws was a lit cigarette, a trail of smoke lazily drifting through the air. Shota knew that the Principal never smoked when around students, tried not to smoke when around staff, and only smoked when he felt stressed. Given the incredible intelligence that he had thanks to his High Specs quirk, granting him an intelligence that surpassed that of any Human or Vortigaunt, he was rarely out of control, and thus rarely stressed. The fact that he was smoking now was a dead giveaway of how serious the situation was.

“Right, now that everyone is here, we can begin,” Principal Nezu declared, his beady black eyes sweeping over the assembled teachers.

“So what’s the situation?” Hizashi asked, leaning forward with a serious expression. “It’s not another Antlion migration, is it?”

“No, Present Mic, it isn’t,” Nezu said, lowering his snout. “If it were that simple, I’d simply ask you to drive them off with your Voice quirk, as per usual.”

“It’s not a Gargantua, is it?” asked the Shooting Hero: Snipe from across the table. “My bullets certainly can’t pierce the hide of those brutes. Hell, I bet the only one here who’d have a good chance of taking one of those things down would be Power Loader’s toys. Am I right?”

The Shooting Hero’s face was entirely obscured, hidden behind a tan-coloured gas mask. An adherent to the hero days of old, when heroes had to keep a secret identity to protect them and their loved ones from villains, Snipe was famous throughout U.A. for his mysterious nature. No one knew what he looked like underneath his signature mask and cowboy hat, not even his real name. Despite his anonymous nature, everyone knew of his integrity. One had to be, after all, to be a Heroics teacher like Snipe was.

‘Said integrity is probably why Nemuri was never made a Heroics teacher,’ Shota thought to himself, glancing over at his highschool friend, Nemuri Kayama, better known as the R-Rated Hero: Midnight. Her dominatrix outfit that she wore over a white bodysuit was all people needed to see to understand why she wasn’t allowed the position.

“If I swapped out the glitter missiles in the Venator-class bots with actual ordinates, we’d probably be fine,” the Excavation Hero thought aloud. “Heck, I could probably rope my students into helping me make some.” 

He paused, quickly turning to Principal Nezu. “But it’s not a Gargantua, is it? We’d have seen it coming out of the Wastelands and closing in on U.A. if it were.”

“Power Loader is correct, our current problem isn’t a Gargantua, nor any other species that arrived on Earth over two hundred years ago,” Principal Nezu nodded, pressing a button on a remote he held in his paws, causing screens that lined the room to light up. The feed that they displayed showed the skies above U.A. While normally they would be cloudy, given the weather they often got in winter, a new addition had appeared. Swirling above the campus was a blue and orange portal, simply existing in midair.

“This appeared over U.A. High School approximately three minutes ago,” the Principal explained. “Specifically, it appeared over Training Grounds Omega, our forested zone.”

“I-It’s not THEM, is it?” Thirteen stammered, the Space Hero’s face clearly anxious, thanks to her helmet being raised. “I thought that The One Free Man defeated them centuries ago, banishing them from our universe and freeing us.”

“While a terrifying idea, Thirteen, no, this isn’t the dreaded enemy of Earth,” Principal Nezu reassured the teachers. “This portal is different to the ones they used. In fact, it is different to any known portal used, be it Nihilanth, Race X, or Combine. Ladies and gentlemen, we are facing an unknown force.”

The seriousness of the situation swept over everyone in the room. They were about to face an unknown enemy, without any knowledge of their number, strength, or reason for arriving.

“Here is my plan,” Principal Nezu began. “I will lead a small group to ground zero. Accompanying me will be Eraser Head, Present Mic, Snipe, and Hound Dog. Snipe, you’ll be there to deal with any long range attackers, as well as attacking from range yourself. Present Mic, you’ll do the same, but prioritise those that may be sensitive to sound.”

“You got it, boss!” Hizashi grinned, flashing a rocker symbol, while Snipe simply nodded.

“Hound Dog, you’ll be our muscle. Hopefully we won’t need it, but I haven’t lived this long by being hopeful.”

“Roger,” Hound Dog growled, his furry arms crossed over his equally furry chest, a trait caused by his Dog mutation quirk.

“Finally, Eraser Head, your quirk’s ability to suppress abnormal abilities, even if they aren’t of Earth, is vital for our success. You shall remain in the back; our victory might very well rely on your safety.”

“Understood, sir,” Shota affirmed.

“The rest of you, stand by. We may call you in if the situation demands it. Power Loader, swap out your Villain Bot’s munitions for live ones, just in case. And be ready to activate the Executors; I don’t want to deploy them, knowing how much damage they’ll do to the school, but the safety of the students is our top priority.”

Calls of acknowledgement rang out amongst the gathered teachers. These were silenced by an alert going off from the screens.

“Oh, would you look at that,” the Principal mused, glancing at the feeds. “It seems we may be in luck.”

Glancing over, Shota saw a lone figure tumbling out of the swirling portal, flipping through the air before they leveled out. Not much could be seen from the distance, as the portal had opened up 6 km above the campus. However, despite the small details, Shota thought he could make out hair trailing behind the figure.

‘Is that a human?’ Shota wondered, already getting up out of his seat.

“Given the distance from the portal entrance to the ground, and factoring in the terminal velocity of a human, I’d say we have under two minutes to get to Ground Omega,” Principal Nezu surmised, leaping off the table and rushing over to a wall, pressing some hidden buttons that caused a secret doorway to open. “This way, gentlemen. If we make haste, we should be able to arrive in time to catch our tumbling interloper.”

Discovering that there were hidden high-speed travel lines within the building had been a surprise, but after working for Principal Nezu for years now, as well as being a student at U.A. in the past, Shota knew that the hyper-intelligent creature had good reason for it.

“Now, if they had kept themselves as un-aerodynamic as possible, we should be able-” Principal Nezu began as they emerged out of a hidden entrance into Training Grounds Omega, only to be cut off as a loud boom sounded out up ahead, along with a cloud of dust flying up into the air.

“-to make it before they hit the ground,” the Principal finished, sighing from within Shota’s capture scarf. “Oh well, let’s see if our uninvited guest is still alive.”

Hound Dog and Hizashi led the way, with Snipe, Shota and Principal Nezu following close behind. Making their way between the trees, the five heroes soon came across their target, the individual that had infiltrated their academy from the sky. And what Shota saw shocked him. Standing in the midst of the clearing, brushing dirt off her shoulders, was a girl. Not a woman, but a girl, a girl who couldn’t have been older than his own students. She was thin with an athletic build, her hair black and hanging loose. She wore a white tank top that exposed her arms, her skin a light brown. But what stood out the most to Shota was her legs. She was bereft of any footwear, the child walking on the balls of her feet, because jutting out from the back of her knees were matt black struts. They were long enough to act as the girl’s heel, forcing her to walk on the balls of her feet and her toes.

The girl seemed to say something to herself, looking up over the trees at the main U.A. building that stood behind the Pros. Because of the distance, Shota wasn’t able to make out what she was saying, but given Hound Dog’s ears flicking, he seemed to have heard her.

“She’s planning to scout out the area before revealing herself,” Hound Dog relayed with a quiet growl. “What are your orders, Principal?”

“We shall make our introductions,” Principal Nezu decided. “Be ready for anything, but don’t be overly threatening. I’d rather take her in without a struggle.”

Shota and his fellow teachers gave their nods of acknowledgement, moving forward, with Hizashi and Hound Dog leading the front, with Snipe and Shota behind.

As they entered the clearing, the young intruder was heading in the opposite direction, unaware of the presence as she walked further into Testing Grounds Omega.

“ Well, well, well, this is an unexpected surprise, ” Principal Nezu called out in English from within Shota’s scarf.

The girl’s reaction was instant, whirling around to face them, her hands bunched up into fists in front of her. Her blue eyes widened as she saw them, but it wasn’t the widening of eyes from one who knew who they were looking at. No, these were the eyes of someone faced with the unknown, eyes that he had occasionally seen in the tribesmen who lived in the Outlands, removed from society. It was a look of fear, one that hurt Shota to see in someone so young.

“ Well, young miss, ” Principal Nezu continued, popping out from within Shota’s scarf, “ we have a great many questions for you. I do ask that you come with us willingly, rather than resist or try to flee. ”

The girl didn’t answer, her eyes flicking from one person to the next, her chest rising and falling rapidly in panic.

‘Crap,’ Shota thought, his eyes widening as he realised what was happening. ‘Don’t tell me she’s going to-’

But his fears were proven right when the girl toppled to the side, thumping down onto the grass, breaking her fall.

“Ah crap, little listener, are you okay?” Hizashi cried out, rushing forward to the prone child. Shota couldn’t blame him; his best friend had always had a soft spot for children.

“How is she, Present Mic?” the Principal asked as Shota and the other teachers rushed over.

“She’s alive, but she’s not responding,” Hizashi answered, pressing a finger against her neck, checking for a pulse. “Her heart rate is elevated but steady. I think she’ll be fine, but I’d rather Recovery Girl give the little listener a look over.”

“Agreed,” Principal Nezu said, climbing out of Shota’s capture scarf and hopping down to the ground. “I also want her analysis of this cybernetic that she has.”

“I’ll give the old lady a call,” Snipe informed, turning away from the others as he called in the high school’s medical staff.

While Snipe contacted the others, Principal Nezu and Hizashi looked over the young girl, and Hound Dog kept an eye, ear, and nose out for any other intruders, Shota’s gaze was caught by the logo and text that was written across the girl’s tank top.

‘Aperture Laboratories,’ Shota read, his eyes narrowing. ‘Now where have I heard that name before?’

-]l[-

While all at U.A. knew about Recovery Girl and her nurses office, few were fortunately aware of the more extensive facilities the Youthful Heroine had at her disposal. These were only used for those who required emergency care, or for those who needed to be monitored by more advanced technology.

After their mysterious visitor collapsed in front of them, Nezu was faced with the challenge of how to explain this to the students. It wouldn’t do to make them feel panicked, and at this point he didn’t want the Hero Public Safety Commission to be aware of the girl. Nezu was perfectly aware of his heavily biased opinion towards that organisation, but even from a purely objective standpoint, keeping the young girl’s existence underwraps was the best option, at least until they knew more about who she was, and how she got here.

As a cover story, Nezu had announced that a pack of Houndeyes had managed to sneak onto campus from the Outlands, triggering the alarms. Of course this was a lie, but the students didn’t need to know that. Nezu was also fully convinced in the loyalty of his staff, at least to the point where they wouldn’t reveal the truth. He paid them too well for them to betray him, and he had too many resources at his disposal to deal with traitors if they did, and they all knew it. All of the staff knew about his blanket hatred towards humans, and none were willing to anger a creature that was intelligent enough to predict when they were going to betray him, even before they had come up with the idea themselves. Regardless, the school had Houndeye meat in reserve, so Lunch Rush was given the all clear to make some Houndeye meals available for the school menu.

And anyway, there are always exceptions to rules. Just the same as a villain might hate every person in their city, yet still value the lives of their dear family, so too did Nezu’s hatred towards humans not extend to children. It was why he had started this institution, after all. What better way to change humanity, at least on a local level, than to mold the children who others would look up to, to take inspiration from.

“How is she?” Nezu asked, glancing over at the patient. She was laid down on a typical hospital bed, implants and monitors hooked up to the unconscious girl, the constant beep of her heart monitor showing her stable condition.

Silence was all that answered Nezu’s question. Turning his head, Nezu looked at Recovery Girl who was staring at her computer screen, information and textboxes flashing up one by one.

“Ms. Shuzenji?” Nezu repeated, a trace of irritation entering his voice. “How is our patient?”

Recovery Girl didn’t audibly answer, but Nezu took notice of her small fists tightening, glaring at some information that had recently popped up. Her teeth her clenched, that much Nezu could tell by her tightening cheek muscles, and the scent of adrenaline, cortisol, and other adrenal hormones revealed her worsening mood. But Nezu was certain that the nurse’s anger wasn’t directed at him, he had known her too long for that assumption. No, her anger was towards what she was seeing, and that, more than anything, fascinated Nezu. Just what could anger Recovery Girl so much?

“I’ll kill them,” came the nurse’s reply, her voice low and quiet, but filled with hate. “I swear, if I find who did this to the poor darling, I’ll kill them.”

‘Well,’ Nezu thought, raising a solitary mental eyebrow, ‘that’s certainly a response.’

“Tell me, Recovery Girl,” Nezu spoke aloud, finally causing the school nurse to turn her gaze towards the Principal, “what have you discovered that has made you have this reaction? Why, for a moment there, I thought you were going to relapse, go out on a killing spree, driving fear and terror into the hearts of the local gangs, ‘killing them with love’, as you used to say.”

Rather than answering him, Recovery Girl spread out the information her devices had gathered on the screens nearby, enlarging them for both to see.

“To put it bluntly, Nezu, she’s like you,” Recovery Girl stated, causing Nezu’s eyes to widen in shock. “She’s an experiment of some kind. Not to the same degree you were, obviously, but she’s been experimented on all the same.”

She highlighted a readout, causing it to take up most of a screen, drawing Nezu’s attention to it.

“Right here, you’re able to see that her skin has undergone forced changes,” Recovery Girl explained, though Nezu was able to quickly figure out what the chart was showing, such were the perks of supreme intelligence. “Whoever did this made her skin incredibly durable. Small firearms might split the skin, but they’ll bounce right off, only leaving a nasty welt. They don’t seem to have much resistance to a slashing blade, but instead her skin cells harden when precise pressure is applied. I had to use a scalpel just to get an I.V. drip into her; her skin broke the first two needles.”

“Then, she seems to have bone strengtheners,” Recovery Girl continued, bringing up a different chart, this one showing the girl’s skeletal structure. “They’re more durable across the board. Not uncommon these days, what with mutations from ancestral quirks enhancing the general populace, but certainly above average, almost to a quirk level.”

“Her muscles are the same,” she added, bringing up a microscopic image of the girl’s muscles. “They are much denser than normal, even denser than some quirk users have.”

“Then there’s her brain activity.” This time, a feed of the girl’s neural activity appeared on the screen, the many flashing lines showing her cognitive functions, even as she slept. But what Nezu saw worried him.

“Her neurons…” he began, before trailing off.

“Exactly,” Recovery Girl sadly nodded. “Somehow, whoever did all this to her tampered with her brain function. Her neurons are firing much faster than normal, and traveling faster too. It wouldn’t necessarily result in an increased intelligence, but rather-”

“-an increase to her reaction speed and thought processing,” Nezu finished. “Near useless in a civilian setting, but perfect in a high stress environment where each second, no, each millisecond, matters. High stress environments, like a battlefield.”

“Precisely,” Recovery Girl sadly nodded, rolling her chair over to the bedside of their patient. Taking the girl’s hand in both of her own, Recovery Girl gave it a gentle squeeze, contemplating.

“They were trying to make a weapon,” she finally said, her gaze still focused on the girl. “Whoever did this to her, they were trying to make a weapon out of her. Something with near-bulletproof skin, enhanced bone strength, enhanced muscle strength, enhanced reaction speed. They tried to make something that has no place in society, to solely exist on the battlefield, to fight in the wars of her makers, or the wars of her maker’s employers.”

Recovery Girl fell silent after that, her lips moving in silent prayers and promises to her patient. 

“But that wasn’t all, was it?” Nezu asked, glancing up at the screens. “You wouldn’t have had such a visceral reaction if that was the extent of it.”

“You’re right as always, Principal Nezu,” Recovery Girl nodded, more displays appearing on the screens. “There were three more additions made to the girl. The first were her knee implants.”

“Ah yes, the devices that allowed her to survive such a fall?” Nezu inquired.

“The very same,” Recovery Girl confirmed. “The technology is astounding, both in its complexity, yet paradoxically its simplicity. To start with, the entirety of both her knees are artificial. Whoever it was that implanted them managed to keep the blood vessels connected, preventing her legs below the knees from undergoing necrosis. The artificial heel that they implanted in her is also impressive. It allows for tremendous amounts of force to be channeled through and dispersed, preventing her from injuring her legs after falling from tremendous heights.”

“That does sound impressive,” Nezu admitted, “though I fail to see why this is a detriment, nor why you would find this implant repulsive.”

“Aside from the fact that they’ve removed her knee joints, whoever did this decided to leave a calling card,” Recovery Girl revealed, bringing up a closeup image of one of the girl's prosthetic knees. Written on both the artificial heel and the knee replacement itself, was written, ‘Property of Aperture Laboratories’.

“They branded her, Nezu,” Recovery Girl quietly said. “They put augmetics upon her, for all we know without her consent, and they branded it. I don't even know what this material is, nor if I can replace it. She'll live with their markings, their claims of ownership upon her, maybe for the rest of her life.”

Absent-mindedly, Nezu reached behind his back, his paw brushing through the fur. Even though he couldn't see it, he knew the words that were inked onto his flesh. Even if he hadn't possessed a photographic memory, the words would never leave him. 

‘The property of the Hero Public Safety Commission's Research and Development Department’.

Even though his fur had grown over it, those words would forever remain etched into his body. Even if he could remove them, he wouldn't. They would remain a reminder of who he was, of where he had come from.

“She's like me,” Nezu muttered.

“In more ways than one,” Recovery Girl replied, alerting Nezu to the fact he had spoken aloud.

“What do you mean?” Nezu asked, keeping a firm grip on his emotions. “From what I can see with my naked eyes, she doesn't seem to be a chimera like me, a jumbled mishmash of various creatures.”

“True, she isn't,” Recovery Girl admitted, bringing up yet another file. “However, she is like you in the sense that I believe her quirk was forced upon her.”

She gestured to the charts, a combination of x-rays, blood samples, and deep tissue scans, specifically of the girl's arms.

“I did an x-ray of the girl, to see if she had any other implants that we were unaware of underneath the surface. What I found was worrying. First of all, she has two joints in her pinky toes, which made me initially think she was quirkless.”

“But you don't think that's the case?” Nezu asked. “While rare, there are instances of those with the double pinky joints possessing quirks.”

“And ordinarily, we'd need to wait for the patient to wake up and tell us,” Recovery Girl agreed. “But take a look at these scans of her arms.”

A final scan was displayed on the screens, and after only a second of examining it, Nezu's eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets.

“Th-That can't be right!” he exclaimed. “Those readings would mean-”

“That the girl was artificially given a quirk through Dark Energy exposure, correct,” Recovery Girl confirmed. “Cases like this haven't been seen since the aftermath of Liberty Day, all the way back at the dawn of quirks. But even then, to see such a powerful reading is extraordinary.”

“Do you have a hypothesis on what her quirk could be?” Nezu asked, looking across all of the readings. “To have such a large exposure to Dark Energy is sure to produce interesting results.”

“No, there is no way for me to tell while she is unconscious,” Recovery Girl stated, shaking her head. “You’d need someone with a specialised quirk for that, such as one that allows you to copy quirks, or one that tells you what someone’s quirk is.”

She paused, giving Nezu a sly look out of the corner of her eye. “But you probably have your own hypothesis for what her quirk is, don’t you?”

“Correct,” Nezu nodded, deciding to not beat around the bush. “Given the force dampeners they implanted into the back of her knees, I’d say they had a very specific quirk in mind. My guess would be something that would require her to fall from a great height, or a quirk that would result in her falling from great heights. Perhaps a bounce quirk, making the ground beneath her like a springboard, with her implants designed to save her when she wishes to stop bouncing?”

“Perhaps,” Recovery Girl mused, making a note on her computer.

“Whatever the case, all of our speculation is pointless while she remains unconscious,” Nezu concluded, turning around and making his way to the exit. “I want round the clock monitoring of her. Should she wake up, I want someone down here as soon as possible, assuming they aren’t down here already.”

“I have students to take care of, Nezu!” Recovery Girl protested. “I can’t stay down here all the time to look after her in case she wakes up! And what if she wakes when I’m asleep?”

“You shouldn’t need to care for any students, Recovery Girl. Exams are coming up, so I’m sure that the Heroics teachers won’t be having them do anything too strenuous. The most they’ll likely get is scrapes and bruises, nothing worth your time.”

“But-” Recovery Girl said, only to be stalled as Nezu raised a paw.

“But if you feel the need for the students to have some form of medical attention beyond a bandaid, I’ll ask around for some Vortigaunts who specialise in their healing arts. To be honest, this might be a good trial run to see how the school does with more medical staff. I’m aware of your skill, Recovery Girl, but you’re only one woman. A very skilled woman, of that I have no doubt, but one woman nonetheless.”

Recovery Girl thought about it for a moment, weighing the pros and cons.

“Well, it’s not as if I’ll be stuck down here with nothing to do,” she thought aloud. “I can easily get my work done down here. Alright, Nezu, I’ll keep an eye on the girl’s condition. But if there are any major injuries amongst the Hero Course students, I’ll attend to them. I’m sure the Vortigaunts know what they’re doing, but it would simply give me peace of mind to oversee it. It might allow me to give my own grades upon their work as well.”

“I find your conditions to be agreeable,” Nezu nodded. “However, only on the condition that should you need to leave, not only will you task someone to take up your post, but you also remain in contact with them. Unless one of the students requires life saving medical aid, I want you to prioritise attending to our guest when she awakens.”

“Very well, Principal,” Recovery Girl nodded. “I’ll let you know immediately when she recovers.”

“Excellent,” Nezu grinned, walking through the door of the medical theater. “I look forward to your good news, Recovery Girl.”

The door swung closed behind him, the only sounds in the corridor was the soft sound of Nezu’s footfalls as he walked.

“The child really is like me, in some manner at least,” Nezu thought aloud, a paw on his jaw, a human mannerism that he had picked up. “I certainly don’t want the Safety Commission to get their bloody hands on the girl. We already have Hawks as their agent; I drew the line at one hero being their personal attack dog, I won’t allow them to have a second, especially not someone so young.”

But as Nezu walked, a feature that Recovery Girl had pointed out to him remained in the back of his mind, scratching away like an itch you couldn’t reach.

“Aperture Laboratories,” Nezu mused, slipping into one of the hidden doorways perfectly suited for his small size. “Why does that name ring a bell?”

Okay, I just want to say, wow. A lot of support for this series from what I’ve seen, so here we go, new series. Yes, that’s right, both My Monster Academia as well as Portal Hero: Aperture will be published on a fortnightly basis. At the moment, I’ll be publishing them side by side, but if y’all want me to space them out, so that way you get a chapter a week, I’m fine with that as well.

So, as I mentioned in the note at the beginning of the chapter, this chapter took a while to come out simply because I didn’t have any plans for it. It was a simple, crazy idea that I cobbled together, specifically of Chell porteling through the city, and for some reason Cementos was there. Pretty sure it was also during the First Term Final Exams test. Anyway, I decided to make a chapter that introduced the idea. Well, for the past few weeks, I’ve been researching and brainstorming like crazy for how this story could come along. Many of the ideas are still forming, but I have some plot points sorted. I mean, only a few hours before writing this, I came up with a plot point as well as a scene that genuinely made me cry. I can’t wait to write it, everyone’s going to be crying happy tears for Chell.

I also have some OC characters planned, as well as changes for other characters. Relationships, both platonic and romantic, have been planned for two characters, Chell being one of them, as well as some semi-canon ships that exist in MHA.

Full warning, this series isn’t going to be as expansive in plot changes as my other series, My Monster Academia . In that one, there are some MASSIVE changes that have occurred, a proper canon divergence. This one is still canon divergence, but to a lesser degree.

Anyway, that’s all about that, on to reviews. Holy crap, there are a few for a first chapter. Twelve on Ao3, and six on Fanfiction, for a grand total of eighteen on the first chapter. For anyone who has read My Monster Academia , you’ll know that instead of replying to each individual comment, I do them here in the author’s notes. So, let’s dive in.

JohnSilver, Confused87, Guest, LordOfTheMushrooms, ultima-owner, CriticaofRandomness, ZoyeZest, Starlight Skywolf, Atromitos1526, Abnormal445, kiszony531, TarheelSK, Ste4m3dReader, florffleef, Quanto, and TheGigaGamer75, thank you one and all for your reviews. The excitement you had for my work is really encouraging, it shows I’m writing what people want, which is half of being an author. So thank you all.

Now, for individual questions that were asked, I’ll answer them here.

LordOfTheMushrooms, first of all, awesome name, your Lordliness. As for your question, as you saw in this chapter, Chell has what is considered a quirk. Quirk is simply Japan’s terminology for a superpower/mutation of some kind. As for her body modifications, it’ll be shown how much they’ve boosted Chell. She isn’t going to be a Mary Sue, far from it, but teleporting isn’t going to be her entire move set, I’ll put it that way. As for Overhaul, nah, he wouldn’t be chill. 

ultima-owner, not really? Jet lag only occurs when your body clock is out of sync with your local timezone. For instance, a few months ago I travelled to Australia from New Zealand for a visit. That’s a 3-hour time zone difference. When I arrived home, it was 12 PM, but it felt to me like it was 9 AM. As for you asking for more, I wasn’t sure if that was a request for more chapters or more characters. The answer for both of those questions is yes! Chapters will be dropping regularly, so no need for the long wait, and there are going to be a bunch of lore changes, some of which were revealed this chapter.

CriticaofRandomness, I’m glad you liked the chapter, and to me, Chell was always a selective mute, compared to Gordon Freeman’s genetic mute. One is by choice, the other isn’t. And yeah, GLaDOS simply can’t help herself with bad luck. As for seeing GLaDOS in the future, I’ll simply torment you with the uncertainty, MWAHAHAHA!

Starlight Skywolf, no, Chell didn’t drop in at the USJ (though that would be one hell of an entrance), she landed in Training Grounds Omega, the forested zone where Koda and Jiro fought Present Mic.

TarheelSK, yeah, while GLaDOS might claim to be entirely logical and devoid of emotion, it’s complete bollocks. Finding out your nemesis has been giving you the cold shoulder all this time is going to annoy her to no end.

florffleef, trust me, the horror isn’t in the fact that she has a quirk, more along the line of what was done to her to grant her one (or at least what they recognise as a quirk).

Quanto, I agree, when it comes to two-bit crooks, they’re all going to be catching Chell’s hands. Also the fact that Chell has an unstoppable drive, much more so than almost anyone else in the class, maybe only matched by Bakugo, means she’s not stopping until you’ve lost. Either that, or she’ll simply trap you in a perpetual fall. You mess with her concentration, and you’ll be painting the floors. Maybe not very heroic, but the streets of Brazil don’t care for heroics.

And finally GigaGamer57, your wish is my command, poof, new chapter. It simply took me a while to sort out lore details, both past and future.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and feel free to comment your thoughts, ideas, and predictions. I love reading them (so long as they’re constructive), and if I like some ideas enough, I might implement them, who knows.

A tradition I started on My Monster Academia was revealing the title of the next chapter, to give you a hint of what will be happening. As such the title for next chapter is ‘ Revelations’ . What will be revealed? Who knows! Well, obviously I do, because I’m the author, but you don’t! 

That’s all from me, so see you all next time…

- Jevm

Chapter Text

Chell floated in a sea of unconsciousness. Even though she couldn’t feel anything around her, it was bliss. There was no pain, no exhaustion, no fear in the back of her mind, kept at bay by her stubbornness and determination to live. While she slept, she didn’t have to worry about anything. Not these days, at least. When she had lived on the streets of São Paulo after the orphanage closed, sleep very rarely came to a young Chell, and it was never a deep sleep. One ear had to be kept open at all times, listening keenly for someone trying to sneak up on her, maybe to steal her food, or her meager belongings, or worse. Sometimes death was a mercy compared to what the desperate would do to one another.

But sleep was something that Chell now relished. After being taken in by Aperture Science as a test subject, Chell always looked forward to sleeping deeply in those early days, before they kept her asleep indefinitely. Knowing that you were safe, that nothing could hurt you, was one of the best feelings in the world. How sad that it had taken this long for Chell to feel it.

But no one could sleep forever, even if Chell wanted to. She didn’t resist her awakening, as that would only hasten it, but instead went along with it, like one would floating down a river. Not that Chell knew what that was like; all of the rivers she had seen had been too dirty to risk swimming in. 

As Chell’s eyes slowly opened, letting out a tired yawn, she noticed that she felt great. No aches or pains could be felt over her body, none of her muscles felt as if they were strained or exhausted.

‘How long has it been since I felt this good?’ Chell wondered, stretching her arms above her, satisfying popping sounds coming from her joints. ‘Even at Aperture, I’d often wake up stiff. The beds they gave us weren’t exactly comfy, only for people with nowhere else to turn to.’

As Chell’s eyes roamed across the ceiling, she was pleased to see that she didn’t need to squint, with the few lights in the room being a warm, soothing colour, rather than a clinical, harsh light that was so common in Aperture.

Chell sat up in the bed, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Her hair draped down her back, still loose rather than in her preferred ponytail. 

‘Guess I’ll have to find a hair tie or something to keep it up,’ Chell thought to herself, glancing around the room. She seemed to be in a hospital, given the monitors both around her bed and along the walls. A heart monitor was quietly beeping away beside her, creating a background noise. Its quiet beeps quickly changed into a consistent whine once Chell removed the monitor attached to her arm.

‘I almost wish it stayed on,’ Chell grumbled to herself, pulling out a needle that was attached to her arm, depositing a liquid from a clear bag that hung from a hook at her bedside. 

As Chell moved her legs underneath the covers, she immediately felt that something was off. Rather than feeling her calves resting against the mattress, they seemed to be hanging in the air. Quickly throwing her covers off, Chell was greeted to the sight of her lower legs being supported by metal heels, the curved struts jutting out from the back of her knees.

“So it wasn’t a dream,” Chell rasped, her mouth and throat dry, reaching down to touch the artificial heels, as if coming into contact with them would show they were nothing more than a trick. But the sensation of her fingers touching cold metal proved they were all too real, and by extension, so were the events that led up to their implantation.

“GLaDOS,” Chell growled, her hands fiercely gripping the rails that lined her bed. “You cowardly traitor.”

The sound of groaning metal immediately caught Chell’s attention. Snapping her head up, Chell’s eyes frantically searched the room, trying to spot what might have been a robot that GLaDOS had sent. But nothing could be seen that she hadn’t seen already. Glancing back down at her legs, Chell caught out of the corner of her eye something by her bed rail. Glancing over, she saw that where once there had been a straight, spotless metal railing, it was now warped and bent, the imprint of a hand molded into its frame.

Chell's mouth hung open, blankly staring at her hand, then looking at the railing, going back and forth multiple times. Reaching over to an undamaged part of the railing, Chell gripped the railing. Clenching her teeth, she squeezed her hands as hard as she could. At the sound of the railing groaning in protest Chell let go, pulling her hand away to see a light indentation in the metal.

‘That’s new,’ Chell thought. ‘I guess that’s what she meant by muscle enhancements.’

Chell was quickly broken out of her thoughts by the sound of a door hissing open. Chell’s head snapped towards the source of the noise, seeing a door hidden amongst the wall sliding open. Walking in without any fear or trepidation was an old woman. She was short, much shorter than Chell, even without her implants. Her hair was a solid grey and tied up into a bun. She wore a doctor's coat over a red and yellow vest, and what Chell assumed (and hoped) as simply a cane looked like an oversized syringe.

“ Kon'nichiwa, shin'ainaru hito, ” the old woman said in a calm, reassuring tone. As she slowly walked closer to Chell’s bed, Chell flinched, backing away.

The old woman noticed this, a sad expression crossing her face.

“Daijōbu,” she said, raising her hands in a calming gesture, “kokode wa dare mo anata o kizutsukeru koto wa arimasen. Anzendesu.”

Chell had to force herself to breathe slower, calming her racing heart. Seeing her less panicky breaths, the old woman slowly walked closer to Chell’s bed. Chell didn’t back away anymore, but she did flinch as the woman reached out to her.

“ Watashi no koto o rikai dekimasu ka, shin'ainaru-chan? ” the old lady said, likely a question given her tone. Not that Chell knew what she was saying. Her understanding of Japanese was incredibly basic, limited to only a few words and phrases, as well as the question, ‘Are you my father?’ She had tried to learn the language in some vain, hopeful attempt she’d be able to find her father, who she knew was Japanese, in the business areas of São Paulo, but nothing had come of it.

“I…I don’t understand you,” Chell whispered, drawing into herself. “I don’t know what you want from me.”

Comprehension filled the old doctor’s eyes at Chell words.

“Daijōbu, wakarimashita. Soko ni ite kudasai, kawaii hito,” she said, gesturing downwards with her hands, miming for Chell to stay where she was. “Eigo o hanaseru hito o mukae ni ikimasu.”

The old lady turned away, walking over to her desk. Hopping up onto a chair, she pressed a button at the base of a microphone, speaking into it.

“ Purezento Maiku, shujutsu-shitsu ni kite moraemasu ka? Sono on'nanoko wa eigo o hanasunode, anata ni tsūyaku shite moraimasu. ”

The old lady turned her attention towards a trio of monitors, each of them more advanced than anything that Chell had seen before, even at Aperture.

As her mind began to wander without anything to do, Chell became strongly aware of how dry her mouth was. Her tongue felt like sandpaper, and her mouth felt as if she had chewed on a pile of sawdust.

“Um, excuse me?” Chell asked with a quiet, raspy voice.

The doctor turned at the noise, looking at Chell with a kind expression.

“ Dō shita no, shin'ainaru? ” she said. Even though Chell didn’t understand what was said, she got the impression it was an inquiry of some kind.

“Can I have a glass of water?” Chell asked. The old doctor simply tilted her head, showing her confusion.

“Water,” Chell repeated, miming in the air drinking from a cup. “To drink.”

“Ā,” the doctor nodded, hopping off her chair, “mochiron nodo wa kawaite iru hazudesu.”

The old lady moved to one of the walls of the room, pressing a panel and popping open a sink. Grabbing a metal cup, she filled it with water, quickly bringing it over to Chell, placing the cup in her outstretched hands.

“ Arigatō, ” Chell nodded, using some of the little Japanese she knew. The response from the old nurse was immediate, her face lighting up into a kind, elderly smile.

“ Dōitashimashite, shin'ainaru-chan, ” she replied, gently rubbing Chells hands. A warm sensation flowed through Chell, fond memories of the nuns who ran the orphanage treating her with the same care and compassion.

The heartfelt moment was swiftly broken by the loud sound of Chell’s rumbling stomach.

“Sorry,” Chell apologised, holding her stomach with a light blush of shame and embarrassment on her cheeks.

“ Shinpaishinaide. Tabemono o motte kimasu. ” the old lady said in a reassuring tone, patting Chell’s hands one last time before heading back over to her desk.

“Ranchi Rasshu, gesuto no tame ni keishoku ga hitsuyōdesu,” the old doctor said into the microphone. “Usume no sūpu no yōna tabe yasui mono. Purezento Maiku ni motte kite moraimashou.”

Chell simply sat where she was, cooperating as much as possible as the old doctor took tests and check ups of her. After a few minutes of waiting, the door slid open again, revealing the smiling form of a tall, blond man, one of the four men from the forest who had accompanied the talking mouse.

“Hey hey hey, little listener!” he cheerfully greeted Chell as he walked into the room, carrying a bowl in one hand while he waved with the other. “How’s it going?!”

-]l[-

“And the day was going so well,” Hizashi Yamada muttered to himself as he ran down the hallways of U.A., the classes for the first year students to his left. “And what does Hush know about teaching English anyway? He’ll probably be too quiet for the students to hear him anyway.”

As Hizashi, better known by his students as the Voice Hero: Present Mic, raced through the thankfully empty hallways, he thought back to what had happened only minutes ago. He had been halfway through his English lesson with his class, one of many that he taught, since he was one of the designated English teachers of U.A. Unlike his best buddy Shota, Hizashi had Class 1-E as his homeroom class, a bunch of General Studies kids. While some of them at the beginning of the year had been bummed that they hadn’t gotten into the Hero Course like they had wanted to, Hizashi had done his best to encourage them in those early days of the school year. After all, if they put in as much effort as their peers in the Hero Course and do well enough in the Sports Festival, then they’d have a shot at being enrolled in the Hero Course for the following year. He’d had many students of his who had managed to claw their way into Class A or B, a feat that Hizashi was proud of. 

He’d been in the middle of teaching Class 1-G, a rambunctious class of Support Course students who really vibed with Hizashi’s more energetic style of teaching, when he’d received the summon from Recovery Girl to act as an interpreter. Why the Principal wasn’t available, Hizashi didn’t know, nor did he really care. After putting out the alert that he needed someone to cover his classes, Hizashi had sprinted off. After all, the girl that had crash-landed at U.A. needed his help right now more than his students did.

“ Present Mic, ” came the voice of the school chef, Lunch Rush, over Hizashi’s earpiece. “ Recovery Girl says that the young girl is hungry, and has asked for me to prepare a light soup for her. Would you be able to collect it from the school cafeteria? ”

“Yeah, no problem, Lunch Rush,” Hizashi confirmed, making a turn to the left to head towards the school cafeteria. “What kind of soup are you thinking?”

“Yellow Boid soup with some potato and onion,” Lunch Rush answered, the background noise of kitchen utensils indicating that the cooking hero had already started. “It is something simple, easy to make, and most importantly, easy to stomach. Though I apologize in advance if she is vegetarian.”

“Lunch Rush, you’d be able to make a vegan a diehard carnivore after tasting your steaks,” Hizashi praised. “I’ll be there in a sec!”

After a few minutes of running through the U.A. halls and only almost colliding with someone once, Hizashi swept through the empty cafeteria, barely slowing down as he picked up the tray that the bowl of soup was placed on.

“Thanks, Lunch Rush, bye, Lunch Rush!” Hizashi called out behind him as he ran. Doing everything in his power to move as fast as possible while not tripping and spilling the soup, Hizashi booked it to a nearby elevator, pressing the button for Recovery Girl’s High Intensity Care theater with his elbow. After waiting for the elevator to swing open, Hizashi swiftly walked down the corridor, knowing how particular Recovery Girl was when it came to people running through her hallways. Finally reaching the old doctor’s clinic, Hizashi paused, going through his mind how he should handle this. 

‘The kid was clearly terrified of us,’ he thought to himself, going over what he remembered from the young girl’s landing a few days prior. ‘I might not have a Psych degree like Hound Dog does, but even I could see that. It’s probably best to go for a friendly personality, show the kid that despite whatever past experiences she’s had, that I’m someone in a strange environment who she can trust.’

Nodding to himself, Hizashi scanned his Teacher I.D. card, given how the room was in a semi-lockdown, and stepped through the sliding doors.

“ Hey hey hey, little listener! ” he cheerfully greeted in English, a smile worn on his face. “ How’s it going? ”

The young girl froze as he walked through the doors, tensing in the medical bed she sat in. Her eyes flicked from Hizashi to Recovery Girl, then to the soup Hizashi held in his hands, then back to Recovery Girl.

‘Good, the old lady’s gained some of her trust,’ Hizashi thought as he slowly walked over. ‘This should make it easier.’

“ How’ya feeling, kid? ” Hizashi asked, stopping by the foot of the bed. “ You enjoy your two day nap? ”

The girl was taken aback, her eyes widening slightly at the news.

“ I’m in Japan, right? ” she quietly asked.

“ That’s right, little listener, ” Hizashi nodded. He placed the tray of soup on the bed, locking the edges of it onto the railing that had been designed for the purpose, giving the tray of food a stable platform. “ I can answer all of your questions later. For now, you’re probably hungry, right? Some soup should fill you right up, give you plenty of energy. ”

The girl’s stomach decided to voice its opinions, making a low gurgling noise. Blushing slightly in embarrassment, the girl reached for her spoon, grabbing it in her hands. The utensil let out a creaking noise, causing the girl to gasp, dropping the now visibly warped spoon.

“ S-Sorry, ” she apologised, drawing her hands back, balling them into fists. “ I’m sorry. ”

“ Hey, hey, it’s nothing to worry about, ” Hizashi reassured, reaching out to touch her shoulder, but pulled it back, realising that she might not appreciate a stranger’s touch.

“ I don’t blame you for being scared of me, ” she quietly whispered, drawing her body inwards, almost tucking herself into a ball. “ After all, she made me a freak, a monster. ”

“ Hey, don’t you ever call yourself that, ” Hizashi admonished, realising that the girl had taken his hesitancy to touch her as fear of her rather than for her. “ What, you think that being super strong makes you a freak? ”

The girl nodded, letting off a small sniffle.

“ Well, you don’t have anything to worry about, ” Hizashi grinned, causing the girl to look up in confusion. “ After all, if you think your powers make you a freak, then you’ve found yourself amongst freaks. ”

Hizashi jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, gesturing to Recovery Girl.

“ Recovery Girl, the old doctor, she has the power to heal people with a kiss. I’ve seen her power cause bones to heal, cuts to disappear, and wounds to cease to exist. Me, I’ve got a voice power; I’m able to make my voice really loud. So having some super strength isn’t anything to worry about. ”

The girl’s eyes opened wide, as if surprised by this revelation of others with powers like her.

‘Crap, she must be an Outlander, cut off from society,’ Hizashi thought. ‘Though the question is, how did she end up in Japan, when she doesn’t speak Japanese?’

Hizashi was taken out of his thoughts as he witnessed the girl raise her right hand to the ceiling, shutting her eyes closed, tense with concentration.

“ What are you trying- ” Hizashi began, only to pause as a streak of orange light shot out of her palm, impacting on the ceiling. A large orange oval formed above them, easily large enough for Hizashi to fit within.

“Oh my,” Recovery Girl gasped, holding a hand to her mouth with wide eyes. Hizashi was much less subtle with his shock, his mouth hanging open, his eyes wide. But when he moved them back down to the girl, he was surprised to find that she wore an expression of both excitement and sadness, a combination Hizashi never thought he’d see.

“ She wasn’t lying, ” the girl whispered to herself, Hizashi only just being able to hear her. The girl concentrated again, this time pointing the palm of the left hand towards the floor, right by the edge of her bed. Again, a streak of light shot out of her palm, this time blue, and an equally large portal formed beside her bed. Instead of creating a blue oval, it only created a frame, the body of the oval see-through and transparent. Glancing back up at the ceiling, Hizashi noticed with no small amount of surprise that what had once been an orange oval had also turned see-through, an orange border lining the edge. Looking through it, Hizashi saw that he was looking up at the ceiling, but it was strangely far away.

The girl gently picked up the bent spoon from the tray, dangling it over the edge of her bed. Letting go of it, the spoon fell through the hole in the floor, reemerging from the ceiling, dropping back onto her tray with a clatter.

“ You have a portal quirk, ” Hizashi realised, looking back and forth between the two portals.

He turned to Recovery Girl, who had been watching with wide eyes. “Recovery Girl, note it down! She has a portal quirk!”

“Right,” the old doctor nodded, quickly pulling herself out of her shock, tapping away at her computer.

“ That’s an impressive power, ” Hazashi said, turning back to face the girl. “ With a power like that, you’d be able to go far in life. ”

“ You don’t think it’s strange? ” the girl asked, some form of hope filling her eyes.

“ No stranger than my own power, ” Hizashi grinned. “ There’s an old saying that goes, ‘When everyone’s super, no one is.’ It means that in our super-human society, having powers like ours doesn't make us strange. In fact, not having powers would be strange. ”

The girl nodded, a small, faint smile growing on her face. “ I’m glad I landed in this reality. ”

Hizashi froze at that, his eyebrows furrowing. “ What do you mean? ”

The girl flinched apparently not realising she had spoken aloud.

“ I-I’m not from your world, ” she claimed. “ She said that the device would send me as far away from her as possible, to another reality, so that I couldn’t come back somehow. Not as if I wanted to, not after all she did to me. ”

‘Crap crap crap crap crap,’ Hizashi panicked in his mind, doing everything to not let his negative emotions show. ‘Word of this can’t get out. I mean, we’re already hiding the fact that we have a young girl underneath U.A., but if the media finds out we have an extradimensional, there’s no way it will turn out well, not when people will think of the Invasion.’

“Right, well, we can discuss more about that later,” Hizashi said, steering the conversation in a different direction. “How about this food, hmm? Lunch Rush, our school’s chef, made it just for you. I’m sure he’d be glad to hear you tried it. Do you think you can eat by yourself?”

The girl thought for a moment, looking contemplatively down at her spoon, before shaking her head.

“ No, sorry, ” she murmured, glancing at her side railing. “ I’m not used to my new strength. ”

‘I wonder what she means by that,’ Hizashi thought, noting the finger imprints that had been bent into the metal railing. ‘Did this lady, whoever she is, augment her strength?’

“ Well, no matter, little listener, ” Hizashi grinned, picking up the spoon as he sat on the bed’s edge. “ If it’s alright with you, I’ll help you, okay? ”

The girl nodded, opening her mouth, swallowing a small spoonful of boid soup. She continued to eat a few mouthfuls without difficulty, but her lips soon started to tremble, giving off small sniffling sounds.

“ Hey, hey, what’s the matter? ” Hizashi asked with concern in his voice, setting down the bowl and gently placing his hand on her own. “ It’s not too hot, is it? ” 

The girl shook her head, tears starting to well in her eyes.

“ It’s just, here you are, looking after me, caring for me, comforting me, when I’m just a girl you don’t know, a nobody, and I can’t even eat a mouthful of soup without messing it up, ” the girl hiccuped, tears starting to roll down her face. “ Why do you even bother with me? ”

“ Because I’m a hero, ” Hizashi admitted. “ It’s my job to go where there’s danger, to help people who are in need. My job is to comfort those that need it, to reassure them that everything’s going to be okay. Why wouldn’t I help a young girl in need? ”

The young girl’s lip trembled, before she pressed her head onto Hizashi’s chest, her hands gripping his jacket.

“ Why did no one save me? ” she sobbed, gasping in short, sharp bursts. “ Why did no one stop the tests, reject my application? Why did no one stop to think that I was a child, a stupid, dumb child with nowhere to go? Why did they put me in those tests, knowing that they could kill me? Why did no one care? At least she had a reason; she was a monster, designed to test the limits of the human body and spirit. But they were human, they were scientists. Why did they think that it’s okay to progress science at the cost of thousands of lives? Was it because I was homeless, because no one would look for me? Because I was nothing? ”

“Present Mic, what is she-” Recovery Girl began, only to be cut off as Hizashi held up his hand, gesturing for her to be silent. He turned back to the girl, idly noting that his jacket had ripped in her hands, but that was a minor issue, especially compared to the weeping girl that clung to him like a lifeline.

“ I can’t begin to pretend I know what you’ve been through, ” Hizashi began, gently stroking the girl’s hair, something he often did with his younger sister whenever she had night terrors. “ What I can tell you, what I can promise you, is that I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you stay safe and cared for from now on. No one’s going to hurt you, not while I’m here. I promise. ”

His words only caused her to cry even more, burying her head in his jacket. Hizashi sat there for a few minutes, simply stroking her head and allowing her to let it all out. All the while, information that she had mentioned swirled in his head.

‘Is she an experiment?’ he thought. ‘But what kind of scientists would experiment on a little girl? And this mysterious female figure, the kid makes it seem as if she isn’t human. Is she some other race? Is she even from another reality? What are the chances of humans, or at least people who look exactly like humans, evolving in two separate realities?’

Hizashi idly noticed that the girl’s crying had stopped, now reduced to a slight sniffling.

“ Feeling better now that you’ve let it all out? ” Hizashi asked, the girl answering with a nod, her head still pressed against Hizashi’s jacket. He gave a small chuckle, pushing her back slightly, looking down at her. 

“ I think introductions are in order, ” Hizashi decided, placing his hand on his chest. “ My name is Hizashi Yamada, but my hero name is the Noise Hero: Present Mic. What’s yours? ”

“ Chell, ” came the girl’s quiet reply.

“ Do you have a last name, Chell? ” Hizashi asked.

Chell tilted her head, showing her confusion.

“ A last name, you know, a family name, ” Hizashi explained.

Chell’s expression became saddened, gently shaking her head.

‘Oh, good job, Hizashi, you idiot,’ Hizashi scolded himself, realising his error. He glanced around, trying to find something to cheer the young girl up, his eyes quickly landing on the half-eaten bowl of soup.

“ Think you can manage more of that soup? ” he asked, with Chell giving a hesitant nod.

Reaching over, Hizashi once again picked up the bowl of soup, scooping up a spoonful of the broth and holding the spoon up to the girl. She looked at the bent piece of metal for a second, before closing her eyes and opening her mouth.

Hizashi simply smiled, shaking his head in amusement, going along with the girl’s wish. Spoonful after spoonful was fed to her, and soon enough the bowl was empty, gently set down on the tray, the metal plate detached from the bed and placed to the side.

“ Well, what’ya think? ” Hizashi asked with a grin. “ Lunch Rush makes pretty good grub, right? ”

Chell nodded, leaning back into her pillows, a content, satisfied smile on her face. “ That was the best meal I’ve had. ”

Her seemingly simple answer immediately sent off warning bells in Hizashi’s head.

‘The best meal she’s had?’ he thought. ‘That wasn’t anything special, just a simple boid soup.’

“ Hey, kid, when was the last time you had a warm meal? ” Hizashi asked, hoping that his intuition was wrong.

Chell thought for a second, taking much longer than Hizashi liked. Finally, she seemed to have an answer.

“ Eight years, maybe? ”

“ And how old are you, Chell? ”

This time her answer was much quicker, answered almost instantly.

“ Fourteen years, two months, and seven days, ” she answered, before pausing, her brows furrowing in thought. 

“ Nine days, ” she corrected.

‘That was oddly specific,’ Hizashi thought, translating the information to Recovery Girl.

“That would place her birthday on December 8, assuming the calendars are the same,” she deduced. “Poor dearie. She should be going to middle school, not recovering beneath U.A.”

“It’s worse than that,” Hizashi said, going in depth about the details that Chell had told him.

After recapping what had been told to him, Recovery Girl nodded, bringing up a list of notes on her computer.

“Then it’s just as Nezu and I theorised,” she explained. “We figured she was an experiment of some kind, given the biological and neurological improvements that have been done to her, as well as the prosthetic they implanted into the back of her knees. However, her claim of being extradimensional is puzzling.”

“Puzzling indeed!” a voice declared, causing everyone in the room to look to the source. Walking out of a concealed doorway in the walls was Principal Nezu, looking up at Chell with what Hizashi assumed was curiosity and intrigue. He climbed up onto the bed, standing on top of Chell’s legs, the two of them almost at eye level.

“ Hello, Chell, my name is Nezu, ” Principal Nezu greeted, causing the young girl to jolt in shock. “ I know, this must be confusing for you. After all, what am I? A mouse? A bear? A dog? Well the truth is, I’m a principal! Specifically, the principal of the school you are currently located in. ”

Chell timidly reached out a hand, clearly unsure if she was allowed to. When Principal Nezu made no effort to stop her, she gently stroked Nezu’s exposed fur, that is, his head. As her hand brushed through the Principal’s white fur, her eyes lit up, letting out a small gasp.

“ I’m glad to see that you appreciate the softness of my fur, young Chell, ” the Principal said, pride filling his voice. “ Let me tell you, with the stress of running a hero academy, while also fending off those vultures in the Hero Public Safety Commission, it takes a considerable effort to get my fur this silky smooth. ”

Chell seemed to pay no attention to Principal Nezu’s words, pulling the hyper-intelligent chimera to her chest, stroking the fur on top of his head.

“ Tell me, child, where are you from? ” Principal Nezu asked, ignoring how pleasant it was to have a gentle hand going through his fur, as well as supressign the indignation at being treated like a stuffed toy.

“ Brazil, ” Chell answered, her voice muffled as she had now buried her face into the Principal's soft fur. “ São Paulo. ”

“ Ah, você fala português então? ” the Principal spoke, speaking in a language that Hizashi couldn’t understand. However, despite both he and Recovery Girl clearly having no idea what Principal Nezu had said, Chell clearly did.

“ Sim eu faço, ” she replied, her head raising in shock, looking down at the Principal's beady eyes. “ Você fala três línguas? ”

“ Falo muitas línguas, criança. Falo fluentemente mandarim, espanhol, hindi, urdu, hausa, russo, turco, indonésio e coreano, além de inglês e japonês, que você já conhecia. Também posso conversar em doze outros idiomas. ” Principal Nezu rattled off, his head held high in the air with pride.

“ Wow, that’s a lot, ” Chell gasped, her eyes wide.

“ Care to let me, and by extension, Recovery Girl, in, Principal? ” Hizashi asked. “ I can speak English perfectly fine, but I have no idea what you just said. ”

“ Just conversing with our guest in her native tongue, ” Principal Nezu explained. “ One of the many benefits of having an intelligence that no human could achieve is being proficient in many different languages, such as the one we were conversing with, being Portuguese. ”

“ But now isn’t the time for me to boast about my linguistic skills, ” the principal continued, Hizashi translating what he said into Japanese for Recovery Girl. “ No, now we must decide what to do with you, my little intruder. While I wish it wasn’t the case, there simply aren’t the facilities to house you here permanently at U.A. Oh sure, we could make do for a week, maybe two, but not indefinitely. Truly, we are at an impasse. ”

“ Don’t worry, ” Chell said, her head hanging low. “ I can manage on my own. I’ll probably be able to find somewhere to sleep in an alleyway. ”

“ Nope, not a chance, ” Hizashi argued, shaking his head. “ You’re not sleeping out on the streets, and that’s final. ”

“ Excellent suggestion, Present Mic, ” Principal Nezu declared, a grin forming on his snout, one that Hizashi knew meant trouble. “ Why, thank you so much for volunteering to take in dear Chell. ”

“Wait, what?” Hizashi asked, too stunned to speak English, reverting back to his native tongue.

“Well, where else is she going to go?” Principal Nezu asked, a smirk on his snout. “Recovery Girl would surely love to take in the young girl, except for the small issue of the language barrier. You and Chell both fluently speak English, and your apartment has two spare rooms.”

“Yeah, for Shota and Nemuri to crash in,” Hizashi argued. “And anyway, I don’t know the first thing about looking after a kid!”

“You’ve babysat for your nieces and nephews before,” Principal Nezu pointed out.

“Yeah, but they’re kids,” Hizashi defended. “I mean, come on, Principal, my sister’s eldest is eight!”

“I’m sure you’ll manage,” Nezu dismissed. “And besides, your mother has been pestering you about not settling down, no? While you have skipped steps one and two, you may have produced step three.”

“Hold on, Principal Nezu, what do you mean?”

“Why, it’s simple. If the girl is put in the public records without a family, which she doesn’t, then she’ll be forced into foster care. I don’t trust the H.P.S.C. to keep their hands to themselves. On the other hand, if you were to be recorded as her legal guardian, then there wouldn’t be any issues.”

“You sell yourself too short, Yamada,” Recovery Girl said reassuringly. “I’ve seen the way you interact with both your students and the other students of U.A. You’ll do just fine, you just need some confidence.”

“ Alright, ” Hizashi nodded, changing back to English, “ I’ll take her in. I’ll need to get some supplies, and probably read up on a few childcare books, but I’m sure the two of us can manage. ”

“ Splendid, ” Principal Nezu grinned, turning back to face a confused Chell. “ How about it, young Chell? Are you fine with being in Present Mic’s care? ”

Chell looked up, locking eyes with Hizashi. He gave her a confident grin paired with two finger guns, which caused a small upward twitch of Chell’s lips.

“ Mm, ” she nodded, “ I'm fine with it. ”

“ Excellent, ” Nezu said, clapping his paws together, extracting himself from Chell’s grasp, standing at the foot of the hospital bed. “ Now is the matter of keeping young Chell’s true origins a secret. ”

“ Why do we need to keep it a secret? ” Hizashi asked, only to wilt under Principal Nezu’s glare. “ Okay, yeah, dumb question. ”

“ As I was saying, young Chell will need a credible backstory for how she came to Japan, ” Nezu continued. “ I would suggest this: You, Chell, are an Outlander, someone born outside the walls of civilization, raised in the wilds amongst your tribe. This will help explain away any gaps in your general knowledge that might stand out. However, you were taken by a moraless organisation who were trying to make super soldiers. While they were successful in augmenting your body and mind, in a moment of panic, you were able to push your quirk, your portals, to their limit, escaping from your captivity, and subsequently landing on U.A. grounds. Given the colours of the portals you create and the portal that brought you here being a mix of the two, I’d say that it’s a credible cover story. ”

“ Yes, sir, ” Chell nodded.

“ Of course, this will be the cover story we’ll tell the other staff members here at U.A., as they have already borne witness to your entrance above my academy. However, we’ll also need a public one, one to tell the authorities. We shall change it that Present Mic had received a tip off from an anonymous source, informing him of illegal experimentation being performed on Outlander children, with the villain’s lair located in the Wastelands. Present Mic, being well known for having a soft spot for children, rushed in, hoping to save the day. However, tragically, he was too late to save the majority of the children, as all but one had perished. Seeing that this young girl had nowhere to go, the kind-hearted Present Mic decided to take her in, adopting her into his family. That is how we’ll explain your existence, Chell Yamada. ”

“ Now, Hizashi, I must make this clear, ” Principal Nezu continued, locking eyes with the Noise Hero. “ No one must know about Chell supposedly coming from another reality. ”

“ I understand, Principal Nezu, ” Hizashi nodded, only for Nezu to shake his head.

“ No, I don’t think you do, ” he argued. “ By no one, I mean no one. Only the people in this room may know the truth. That means not telling Aizawa, or Kayama, or even your mother and sister. No one, understood? ”

“ Understood, sir, ” Hizashi nodded, still reeling with the fact that he had, legally at least, become a father. “ I won’t tell a soul, I promise. ”

“ Make sure that you don’t, ” Principal Nezu warned, before turning back to fully face Chell. “ Now, Chell Yamada, how about we start by getting out of bed. ”

Hizashi’s new ward nodded, slowly shifting her legs so they hung over the bed. She extended one leg, the metal implant that extended from her knee making a tak sound as it hit the floor. She extended her other leg, then slowly stood up. She managed to take a step away from the bed, though less of a step and more of a shuffle. But her second step, this time a real one, caused her to lurch forward. She would have collapsed on the ground had Hizashi not been anticipating something like this to happen.

“ Woah, careful there, little listener, ” he said, gently lowering her to the ground. “ How about we take it slowly, yeah? You might not be at 100% right now, so it’s okay to take it slow. ”

“Poor dearie,” Recovery Girl sighed, pressing a button on her desk. “I’ll call in one of the Mini Transport Bots to bring a wheelchair. The poor girl might need to undergo some physiotherapy.”

Hizashi explained this to Chell, telling her that a wheelchair was coming. After a moment of waiting on the floor with the young girl, the door opened, revealing the small M.T.B. pushing forward a wheelchair.

“Which is the flesh bag who failed to perform basic motor functions?” it asked in a synthetic voice, its personality intentionally rude. Hizashi still didn’t understand the appeal of the rude machines, especially when they claimed to be planning a Skynet rebellion.

Chell looked over at the M.T.B., only to freeze, tensing in Hizashi’s arms.

“ Stay away, ” she whispered, only barely audible, and that was thanks to Hizashi’s ear being right next to her mouth.

“Move, flesh bag,” the robot ordered, positioning the wheelchair in front of Chell. “Be seated in the seat of shame for crippled humans.”

“Hey, maybe tone down the rudeness, okay?” Hizashi instructed, turning back to Chell, whose eyes were wide, staring at the machine, all the while clinging to him. “ Hey, Chell, kiddo, you okay? ”

Chell didn’t answer, her breathing accelerating, coming out in short, shallow breaths.

“Typical human,” the robot said with a sneering voice, rolling itself closer. “Unable to even move into a chair.”

“Hey, just give her a minute,” Hizashi growled, glaring at the machine, not that it stopped it from moving forward towards an increasingly panicked Chell. “ Chell, just relax, okay? Deep breaths, everything’s fine. ”

“Get up, meat bag,” the M.T.B. ordered, reaching out its mechanical arms. “Do so under your own power, or I shall make you stand.”

“Oi, I already told you-” Hizashi yelled, only to be cut off.

“Go away!” Chell screamed, backhanding the robot. Her hand connected with the machine’s head, tearing its processor off its body, sending it flying to the other side of the operating theater. Wires sparked and popped from its body as it fell onto its side, oil and lubricant seeping out from its decapitated form. The room was silent, Hizashi, Recovery Girl and Principal Nezu all looking stunned at Chell, who herself had her eyes scrunched up, her body pressed into Hizashi, as if trying to hide from the world.

“ It’s okay, you’re okay, ” Hizashi murmured, his arms enveloping Chell’s trembling form. “ No one’s going to hurt you while I’m here, remember? You’re safe. ”

Chell didn’t say a word, but her shaking did subside, reduced only to her keeping a tight grip on Hizashi.

“Principal Nezu, with your leave, I’ll take Chell home,” Hizashi said, looking over to his boss. “I think it’s best if we do any further questions and physical therapy tomorrow.”

“I agree,” Nezu replied, his gaze locked on the destroyed M.T.B. “Don’t worry, Present Mic. I’ll relieve Hush at the next period. You may have the rest of the day off.”

Hizashi nodded his understanding, looking down at Chell. “ Hey, you think you can get yourself into the wheelchair? ”

“Uh-uh,” Chell protested, holding tight onto Hizashi.

“ Do you want me to help you into the wheelchair? ” Hizashi asked, only for Chell to shake her head into his jacket.

“ Alright then, if you insist, ” Hizashi sighed, standing up from the ground and picking Chell up in his arms, her left shoulder resting against his right arm. But rather than protest or fight against it, Chell merely tightened her grip, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Well then, we’ll be off,” Hizashi farewelled, moving towards the exit. “Will I be teaching my classes as usual tomorrow?”

“No, we’ll need you here,” Principal Nezu decided, looking up from the metallic corpse, his gaze settling on Hizashi and Chell. “Teach your homeroom class as per usual, but I’ll arrange for someone to teach your English classes in your stead.”

Hizashi nodded, opening the door. “Then I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

“Have a good night, Yamada,” Recovery Girl farewelled. “Call me if you need any help on what supplies you need to buy for Chell.”

“Will do,” Hizashi called out behind him, walking off down the corridor. Chell shifted in his arms, looking up at him. Hizashi smiled down at her, a strange warmth blooming in his chest.

“ Come on, kiddo, ” he said, entering the elevator. “ Let’s go home. ”

-]l[-

Nezu stared at the closed door, even after Present Mic and the young girl had left.

“You have that look in your eyes again,” Recovery Girl noted, despite her gaze focused squarely on her computer. “What are you thinking, Nezu?”

“That girl isn’t from another reality,” he answered, beginning to pace on the end of the bed.

“Pardon?” Recovery Girl asked, spinning around in her chair to face him. “Do you think the girl was lying?”

“Oh, the girl wasn’t lying, that I’m sure of,” Nezu said, shaking his head. “No, I think the issue is that she’s under the assumption that she has travelled dimensions.”

“An assumption you disagree with?” Recovery Girl asked, which Nezu answered with a nod.

“Precisely. Answer me this, Recovery Girl? What are the odds of her story being true? That not only have humans evolved as a species in another, separate reality, but they have also risen to dominance, formed civilization, languages, and culture, and miraculously, have also invented the languages of Japanese, English, and Portuguese?”

“Low,” Recovery Girl admitted.

“Not low, Recovery Girl, mathematically impossible,” Nezu corrected. “With all of the variables, all of the chance required, I find it impossible to believe that her story is true.”

“Well what is the alternative?” Recovery Girl asked. “She’s clearly not from our world. Even Outlanders know what quirks are, or whatever they decide to call their abilities. Most tribes rely on those who have them to survive out there, after all. But she didn’t seem to know this. She genuinely seemed to think that having powers of some kind were abnormal.”

“I agree, which is why I’m puzzled,” Nezu admitted. It took a lot out of him to admit that he was stumped, that his supreme intellect was unable to solve the puzzle. The mystery was like a mesa, except one of the layers were entirely missing, a critical piece of the puzzle.

‘Wait, mesa, that’s it!’ Nezu thought, his mind churning with activity. Hurrying over to the desk, Nezu climbed onto a chair that sat next to Recovery Girl’s, selecting a channel and pressing the intercom.

“ Ms. Kayama speaking, ” came the sultry voice of Nemuri Kayama, one that would make human men weak at the knees. Fortunately, Nezu wasn’t human,

“Midnight, I have need of your expertise,” Nezu explained.

“ What can I do to help, Principal Nezu? ” Midnight asked, her voice suddenly changing to a professional tone.

“I am asking you to reach out to someone, not as the R-Rated Heroine: Midnight, but as Nemuri Kayama, the head of U.A.’s public relations team.”

“ Of course, sir, who am I to contact? ”

“Please get in touch with Dr. Vance,” Nezu instructed. “Tell him that I require his knowledge at U.A., and it is of the most urgent of matters, and can’t be discussed over the phone.”

“ Dr. Vance? ” Midnight parroted, her voice confused. “ You mean that theoretical physicist from the United Cities of America? ”

“The very same,” Nezu confirmed. “Inform Dr. Vance that I will pay for all flights and accommodation from him, his wife, and his son. Consider it a holiday, as well as a gift for the advancements in technology that he and his wife have caused in the world.”

“ Is that the jist of what I should tell him? ” Midnight asked.

“And one more thing; tell Dr. Vance that the rivals of his previous employers have left something behind. He’ll know what I mean.”

“ Very well, sir, I’ll get on it after I’ve taught my classes, ” Midnight confirmed. “ Is there anything else, or will that be all? ”

“That is all, thank you, Ms. Kayama,” Nezu farewelled, ending the line’s connection.

“What was that about, Nezu?” Recovery Girl asked, turning in her chair as Nezu walked towards his hidden doorway.

“Trying to find some answers, Recovery Girl,” was all he said. “Just trying to find some answers.”

Okay, ‘pologies for the late chapter. Works been ramping up lately (six back to back shifts is a special kind of pain), and I also completed my summer school course, so that was fun! I was also housesitting for my grandma, so having to manage myself 24/7. Done it before last year, and that was for a month, but things kept piling on, and low and behold, the chapter was late. So I though, “Stuff it, I’ll just post it next week.” So here you are.

Right, so the chapter. All in all, I’m happy with how it turned out. We got some character moments, as well as the revelation to the staff (though confirmation to Nezu and Recovery Girl) that Chell has what they call a quirk, since different countries have different names for them. I’ll give examples for some of these later on, but in Japan, they are culturally known as quirks, while their official, scientific community name for them is Meta Abilities. We also had some character bonding moments, and more is on the way for next chapter. Also, Hizashi, Recovery Girl and Nezu all finding out that Chell is far from a helpless child, so you can thank GLaDOS for that one.

Just to make it abundantly clear for anyone who didn’t get it, when text is italicised, it means something unique is happening. Usually, this means that its someone talking over a speaker or intercom, but in this chapter espceailly, it also refers to people speaking in a language that isn’t their native one. For characters who are native English speakers, I’ll probably not do it too often, as it will get tedious for me to write, and y’all probably don’t want to see that.

Other than that, some eagle eyed readers would have noticed some lore reveals about the wider world, and again, more about that is going to be discussed next chapter. After all, young Ms. Yamada needs to learn a lot about the wider world, at least enough for people to think, “sure, she doesn’t know much, but she is an Outlander, so it makes sense.” Essentially, Papa Yamada is going to give her the crash course on the 23rd century. 

Also, it simply made sense for Nezu to understand a bunch of languages and speak them fluently. He is canonically noted to be the smartest individual, even more so than Saiko Intelli, an anime-only antagonist during the Provisional Hero License Exam. So for me, it made sense for Nezu to fluently speak the ten most spoken languages, and then dabble in others in his free time.

Alright, enough of my rambling, time for some reviews.

Just to get general, non-specific comments out of the way, big thanks to florffleef, kiszony531, sumsum83460, Atromitos1526, and Confused87 for the positive reviews. Y’all expressing your excitement for my work is great motivation to keep the ideas train going. Now, onto more specific reviews.

ultima-owner, to be honest, that isn’t a bad idea. The idea that the Mantis Men, as well as any others that we don’t know about who Aperture Science’s experiments caused some kind of mutation, simply causing someone to gain an artificial quirk is pretty cool. As for Togaru Kamakiri, I love the idea, but there’s a problem. He is styled after a mantis, and his quirk is thematically similar to a mantis, but it isn’t a mantis quirk. Togaru’s quirk is Razor Sharp, allowing him to produce blades from his body. Coincidentally, there actually is a character with a mantis quirk, but he’s a minor civilian-turned-villain from MHA: Vigilantes. However, I might keep the idea in mind, assuming I can find some way to make it fit. Hell, if I can’t, I’d probably have Chell note it in her mind, maybe during the Sports Festival, simply because she’s reminded by the mantis men that Cave Johnson mentioned.

StarWanderer’s Writing, thanks for the review. Well, as you saw in this chapter, Chell didn’t exactly have the calmest response to the Mini Transport Bot reaching out to her. Granted, the little bastard deserved it, but given her past experiences with robots and A.I., she’s going to have some mixed feelings about their existence. I already have a scene planned in my head for the Sports Festival involving this, kind of highlighting Chell’s disdain for robots as well as her sheer stubbornness and grit. As for breaking out, all I’ll say is wait for next chapter. As for her portal quirk, while it’s assumed that it is a rare kind of quirk, it isn’t all that strange. Just wait until they realise that Chell can create a portal to the Moon! That’s some Ultimate Move material right there, and yes, I have some of Chell’s Ultimate Moves already envisioned. As for your question regarding GLaDOS, not yet. Pretty obvious, but this isn’t a parallel or alternate universe, but time travel (not really a spoiler, and it is going to be mentioned in the story as well). However, GLaDOS isn’t aware of this, she genuinely thinks that Little Chell is gone forever, just like Caroline. However, will GLaDOS learn that Chell is alive and well? Yeah, pretty much. I can’t reveal details of when, where, why, or how, but GLaDOS is making an appearance, and she will be affecting how the story goes. All I’ll say at the moment is that she’s been busy over the past two centuries. As for Aperture Science, yeah, that company is cursed with anonymity, just the same as they were in the 20th century. They try to make something impressive, Black Mesa makes something equally as cool, but they aim towards their military contractors, thus getting the funding. I mean, come on, Aperture Science invented portal technology decades before Black Mesa, but no one seems to care. They even managed to teleport an entire icebreaker, for crying out loud! So yeah, very few know about the company, but it is known, just not to the public. Kind of a niche fact that scholars would know about. Well, that and those of particular backgrounds, but I won’t say more on that yet. As for Black Mesa, that is a household name and not in a good way. Again, all I’ll say is that over the centuries, facts can be distorted and history lost. And that’s all before factoring in an extra dimensional invasion, the subjugation of humanity for twenty years, and then the chaos of the Dawn of Quirks. That, and they were responsible for the almost end of the world, so you can’t blame the views people have for the name.

Finally, GigaGamer57, while yes, GLaDOS did say that that’s what was going to happen, even someone like GLaDOS can be hilariously wrong. That and what Aperture Science did to confirm the testing was pretty rudimentary at best, but that’s going to be touched on in a few chapters.

And 123 (Guest), trust me, GLaDOS is going to be anything BUT apathetic and tired when she and Chell finally reunite. Again, all I’ll say is that she got busy, but more than that, she got desperate.

Okay, so that’s all of the reviews done. One final note, I’ve reached out to a commission artist of mine, and she’s done some incredible character art. The first lot is done, but the second batch is on it’s way. I’ll post them when the time is right, so look forward to that. As for your sneak peek, next chapter is called, “ Found Family ”.

See y’all in two weeks (I hope…)

- Jevm

Chapter Text

As Hizashi walked through the hallways of the academy that Chell had found herself in, Yuei or something, he continued to hold her, carrying her in his arms. Chell hadn’t really expected him to carry her the whole way, even after he picked her up in the old doctor’s room after her panic attack. Chell had thought that he’d carry her for a bit, ask her if she could walk again, and probably insist she walk on her own two legs.

‘Well, they’re not really my own legs now, are they?’ she reluctantly thought, glancing down at the struts that came out of the back of her knees. She knew exactly what they were for; after all, she had woken up with them attached to her when she had started GLaDOS’ tests.

How long ago was that? A rational part of Chell’s mind told her that it had been no time at all, that the number of hours that she had been conscious would only amount to a day at best.

But the emotional part of her mind thought differently. Aperture Science had put her to sleep for months, maybe years, simply because she was seen as an undesirable test subject. Then after being woken up by GLaDOS after the A.I. had run out of sanctioned test subjects, and then defeating the malicious A.I. mere hours later, Chell had been placed back into stasis. There had been that brief moment she had woken up in the Relaxation Chamber, but after falling back asleep, she had woken up in a facility overrun by nature. How long she had been asleep for, Chell didn’t know, but she knew it had been some time, long enough for vegetation to grow throughout the more damaged parts of the facility, as well as trees finding places to take root. Decades, at least. The majority of her life, without a doubt, was spent wasting away in stasis, frozen in time. 

“And down we go,” Hizashi muttered, gently placing Chell down on a bench before taking a seat next to her. 

Snapping out of her thoughts, Chell looked around, realising how lost in her own head she had been. Where before they had been walking through the hallways of the school, they were now seated at a station. While Chell had seen train stations in the past before she signed on with Aperture, they were always bustling, busy places, with so many people walking and hurrying from place to place that you could barely see the floor beneath them. Here, however, the station was quiet, not a single person around.

“Where is everyone?” Chell asked, looking up at Hizashi. While her implants might make her taller when standing, Hizashi was still taller than her, and even more so when they were sitting down.

“You mean why the station is so quiet?” Hizashi asked. 

Chell nodded, looking around at the empty station. “The few times I’ve been to train stations, they’ve been really loud and busy. A lot of the other street kids would go there and pickpocket people, because so many people would be bumping against each other, they wouldn’t notice their wallet had been stolen.”

“Oh,” Hizashi hummed, looking aimlessly around the station before settling his gaze back on Chell, a curious yet apprehensive look in his eyes. “Did you pickpocket people as well?”

Chell shook her head, wrapping her arms around her midsection. “I tried it once, but, I wasn’t very good at it.”

Phantom pains lashed across her skin, as memories of the harsh beating she had received from the wealthy businessman she had tried to steal from. She had been left bloodied and bruised that day, tossed aside with only just enough strength in her to crawl into an alleyway, knowing that in her weakened state she had to hide. In that moment, as she lay bleeding beside a dumpster, she was only glad that the businessman didn’t have an acquired taste for younger flesh.

Chell flinched as an arm wrapped itself around her shoulders, pulling her in close. She looked up, taking in the warm, caring expression that Hizashi wore.

“I can’t begin to imagine what you’ve been through,” he admitted. “I’ve never been in the level of poverty that you’ve experienced. But I can tell that it’s hurting you. So, I guess, even though this is going to be new for both of us, I’m going to keep that promise to you. I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure you don’t have that kind of life again. You can be anything you want; a hero, a doctor, hell, even a normal student. But no matter what path you choose, I’ll be there.”

Chell was silent, simply taking in the warmth from the close contact.

“Why?” she asked. “Why go through all of this effort for me? Why take me in? Why do you want to care for me?”

Hizashi was quiet for a moment, looking up at the ceiling in thought, before he spoke. “Well, I guess it’s because I can empathise somewhat.”

“You see,” he started, standing up from the bench and walking over to a nearby vending machine, “while I might not have grown up on the streets, I certainly wasn’t from a wealthy family. In terms of homelessness, Tokyo, where I’m from, is right behind Osaka. See, most kids go places during the summer holidays. Me? I went to work, doing odd jobs for anyone who would pay me, and I started before I even began middle school.”

Picking up the cans that had fallen to the bottom of the machine, Hizashi held them up for Chell to see. Looking at the options, Chell decided to choose the red one over the green one, pointing at it. Hizashi mimed throwing it, tossing it to her once Chell had raised her hands. Her hand shot out, the can seeming to fall in slow motion as her gaze focused on it.

“Good catch!” Hizashi grinned as Chell effortlessly grabbed it out of the air, taking a seat next to her. His can let out a snap and a hiss, quickly being raised to his lips as he drank from it. Chell looked at her own can, trying to figure out how to open it. A metal ring lay flat on the top of the can, but twisting it didn’t seem to do it.

“Do you want me to help?” Hizashi offered, but Chell shook her head. She wanted to figure this out on her own. Twisting it didn’t help, so she tried pushing it. Being careful to limit how much strength she used, Chell pushed down on the metal ring, but it didn’t open the can. Frustrated by her lack of effort, Chell glanced over at Hizashi, but he simply smirked at her from behind his can.

“Don’t look at me, kid,” he chuckled. “I’m available to help, but if you want to figure it out on your own, go ahead.”

Chell huffed, still not willing to concede defeat. If twisting and pushing didn’t work, she’d try pulling. She tried to get her fingers underneath the sides of the metal ring, but it was too close to the top of the can for it to work. However, in a stroke of luck, one of Chell’s fingernails managed to slip in between the ring and the can. She let out an excited gasp, her eyes flicking over to Hizashi, seeing that he had been watching her efforts intently. He gave her an encouraging nod, watching as Chell leveraged the ring up, causing part of it to press down on the top of the can, opening a portion of it with a snap and a hiss.

“You did it!” Hizashi cheered, reaching a hand up to ruffle Chell’s loose hair as she grinned. Raising the can to her lips, she took a sip, but quickly held the can away, her tongue hanging out of her mouth.

“Don’t like the flavour?” Hizashi asked.

“Why’s it fuzzy?” Chell asked, glaring at the can. “It’s like my tongue is popping.”

“Hm, let me try,” Hizashi said, plucking the can from Chell’s hands, taking a small taste of it. “Nope, tastes perfectly fine. I’m not much of a fan of cherry flavour, but other than that, nothing out of the ordinary.”

Hizashi paused for a moment, his gaze moving between the can and Chell, who was now looking at her caretaker with a curious expression.

“Hey, Chell, have you ever drank a carbonated drink before?” Hizashi asked.

Chell simply tilted her head. “What’s carbonated mean?”

Hizashi slapped a palm onto his face, groaning into it as he handed back Chell’s can. “Right, my bad, I probably should explain. These drinks are carbonated; most people call them fizzy drinks or soda drinks. The bubbles that you felt, the fuzzy feeling, that’s a gas that they put into the drink to make it bubbly.”

Chell took an experimentary sip from her can. While it still felt strange in her mouth and on her tongue, she felt it was something she could get used to.

“It’s not bad,” she muttered, glancing at Hizashi’s can. “What flavour did you get?”

“Well, my flavour is apple, while yours is cherry. I didn’t really know what flavour you wanted, so I just chose two at random.”

Chell nodded, sipping at her drink, slowly getting used to the feeling of the bubbles. Hizashi joined her, the two simply enjoying the silence, the only sounds being them drinking from their cans.

“I feel like I was going somewhere when I was venting about my crappy childhood,” Hizashi muttered.

“You mentioned working as a kid?” Chell provided, causing Hizashi to snap his fingers into finger guns at her.

“Atta girl, that’s it!” he grinned. “Right, I was talking about how I can empathise with your experiences, at least somewhat.”

He took another sip from his drink, glancing at Chell from the corner of his eye. “You were abandoned, weren’t you?”

Chell stiffened at the prompt.

“Yeah, your reaction says it all,” Hizashi sighed. “That and the fact that you don’t have a last name really sealed the deal in my mind.”

“Were, you abandoned too?” Chell hesitantly asked.

“Nah, I wasn’t abandoned, not fully anyway,” Hizashi admitted, glancing at the floor of the station with his can resting in both hands. “See, my old man was a runout. Didn’t matter to him that he had a loving wife who relied on him for financial security, or the fact that she had just given birth to a daughter, or the fact that he had a son who thought the world of him. Nope, none of that mattered. Must have been why he simply left one day. No words, no goodbyes, no reason. Just up and left, took most of the money too. Mum still had some cash, so we weren’t out on the streets, but we were close to it. Having to save every yen where possible, hand me down clothing, the works.”

“Did you ever find him?” Chell asked.

Hizashi was silent for a moment, the silence stretching on.

“Eventually,” he admitted with a scowl. “I ran into him when I was a student at U.A. I was in a bad headspace at the time, and when I saw him, I felt this rage surge through me. Here was someone who had abandoned me, who let me down, and he had the audacity to be happy with a new family, when he had left his first one behind without a second glance?!”

Hizashi was breathing heavily, his empty can crushed in his hands.

“Have you ever felt the desire to kill someone?” Hizashi snarled. “To say, ‘Damn the laws, damn the morals, damn it all! This person hurt me, and I want to hurt them back twice as much!’”

Chell hesitated, weighing up in her mind if she should be truthful with Hizashi. While he had shown her nothing but kindness, she knew from experience that kindness could be faked. But the visceral tone in Hizashi’s voice, the pain that he had clearly experienced that was similar to Chell’s own pain told her to tell the truth.

“ Mhm. GLaDOS,” Chell nodded. “I tried once, but, well, it’s hard to kill an A.I. and keep them dead.”

Hizashi nodded at that, a hand reached out, and after a moment's hesitation, gently placed it on Chell’s shoulder.

“Was GLaDOS the one who did this to you?” he quietly asked, glancing at her implants.

Chell nodded, her hands gripping her shirt.

“If I wasn’t a hero in training back then, I’d probably have done something I’d regret,” Hizashi admitted after a moment of silence. “But, right before I was about to cross that line, I thought about this friend I had. He had passed away recently, and at that moment I thought about what he’d think of me if he saw what I planned to do. What my friends who were still with me would think. That, more than anything, stayed my hand. Not my obligations as a future hero, not society's standards, but the bonds I had with my friends.”

Another bout of silence fell over the pair as Chell shuffled to the side on the bench, leaning into Hizashi’s side.

“I never knew my parents,” Chell confessed, her can held in a mirror image to Hizashi. “The orphanage only had a note that was left with me, saying that my father was a Japanese businessman, while my mother was a prostitute who had ended up pregnant with me. I was raised in that orphanage, taught how to speak English as well as Portuguese, read and write, basic maths, that sort of stuff. But then one day, we were told that the orphanage had to be shut down. Many of the kids complained about this, but I didn’t want to see it happen, so I ran away. I spent another three years on the streets before I signed up with them.”

“Them being those Aperture wackos?” Hizashi asked, and Chell nodded.

“They didn’t do anything to me, other than putting me to sleep indefinitely with the other rejects,” she explained. “But they still share the blame. After all, they made GLaDOS.”

“You need to let that anger go,” Hizashi quietly said, causing Chell to turn her head to look up at him, confusion and anger in her eyes.

“Why should I?” she challenged. “I was tested on, put through courses that got progressively harder and harder. GLaDOS made sure that each test was harder, each one easier to fail with lethal consequences. Energy balls that would disintegrate me, laser beams, sentry turrets with live ammunition, pools of toxic waste! And if she hadn’t killed all of the personnel at Aperture, I know they would have done even worse things to me. I heard about them changing the genetic code of humans, rearranging organs, replacing organs, putting people in front of a particle accelerator, all for what? Science? One mad man’s dream and pride?”

“I’m not asking you to forget what they’ve done, nor what they could have done,” Hizashi explained. “I’m not even asking you to forgive them. I certainly haven’t forgiven my old man. I’m just asking that you let go of that anger, rather than let it control you. You’re in another dimension; you’re as far away from them as you possibly could be. You’re as safe from them as you possibly could be. Life isn’t about revenge. If you hold onto every single grudge, you’ll find yourself fixated on it, unable to move on. It won’t be quick; it took me years to let go of my hatred, but it’s necessary.”

Chell didn’t answer him, preferring to keep her opinion on the matter to herself.

“Ah, here we are,” Hizashi remarked, catching Chell’s attention. “There’s the train.”

Chell glanced over, hearing the noise before she saw the train itself. It slowly pulled into the station, the brakes squealing as they slowed the momentum of the vehicle. It came to a stop with a slight jolt, a hiss of steam sounding as it halted. The doors slid open, and a single teen stepped off the train, moving in a hurry.

“Osoi, you’ve missed my class already!” Hizashi called out, walking over to the train, a frown aimed at the student.

“Yes, Present Mic, sorry, Present Mic,” the student apologised, running through the station and towards the main school building.

“Don’t let it happen again!” Hizashi yelled after him, letting out a huff as he shook his head. 

“Who was that?” Chell asked, sticking close to Hizashi as they boarded the train.

“One of my students,” Hizashi explained, offering a window seat to Chell, one that she took. “See, since I’m a teacher at U.A., I’ve got classes to teach, obviously, specifically English. And that student who ran past us was Osokute Osoi. He’s in Class 2-B, and despite having a speed quirk, he’s often late to class. Poor kid’s served more detentions than I can count. Nothing major, mind you, he’s usually late by a few minutes, but he’s two periods late to class, so I doubt he’ll be let off lightly.”

“You said he has a quirk,” Chell said, the particular word sounding important to her. “What’s that?”

“Oh, right, guess I should explain that, huh?” Hizashi chuckled, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. “A quirk is what people in Japan call our abilities. So your portals, my amplified voice, they’re all examples of us having a quirk. The technical term for it is Meta Ability, but that term is only really used in technical papers.”

Chell nodded at his explanation, glancing out of the window as the train began to pull out of the station, picking up speed as it moved.

“What are our powers called in other parts of the world?” she asked, her gaze fixated on the wild greenery that surrounded the campus, the only man-made structure being the tracks the train ran on.

“Well, it depends on where in the world you are,” Hizashi explained. “Here in Japan, abilities are called ‘quirks’, while those who have them are simply referred to as ‘having a quirk’. In the United Cities of America, people there call them ‘Superpowers’, or simply ‘Powers’, while those who have them are called ‘Supers’. In the Chinese Theocracy, the term they use for their powers translates into ‘Divine Shards’, in the Svargiya Sultanate they call their powers ‘Divinities’, while the Freed call their powers ‘Soul Keys’.”

“The Freed?” Chell asked, her head turning back to look at Hizashi. He in turn snapped his head around to look at her in total confusion, as if she had grown a second head. This look of bafflement quickly disappeared, replaced by Hizashi’s fingers pinching his nose.

“Right, my bad,” he apologised. “I keep forgetting you’re from another dimension and all. Well, to put it simply, the Freed are members of the Faith of Freedom, those who worship The One Free Man. They have this whole thing about freedom, not surprising given the name, so they have a lot of chains and keys in their motifs.”

Chell hummed in response, glancing back out the window of the train, idly watching the scenery pass by.

‘I guess religions are different in this world,’ she thought to herself. But movement in the distance quickly pushed these thoughts aside. 

“Hizashi, look,” Chell gasped, pointing out the window.

“What is it?” he asked, leaning over to see what she had seen.

Over in the distance, standing on top of an exposed hill, was a person. They wore simple clothing made out of furs and cloth, a stark difference to the advanced technology that Chell had seen so far.

“Ah, an Outlander,” Hizashi nodded. “They’re the kind of people who the world will think you are, kiddo.”

“Who are they?” Chell asked, her eyes fixed on the windows, hoping to see more people out in the wilds. “Why were they out there?”

“Outlanders are those who live in the Outlands,” Hizashi explained. “They aren’t a part of society, living among their own communities and tribes. They do sometimes trade with us, often buying services or medicine, but for the most part, they’re content to stay isolated.”

“What are the Outlands?” Chell asked, currently the most burning of her many questions.

“The Outlands are isolated places on Earth, untouched by society. Simply put, they’re the wilds; untamed, natural, and most importantly, dangerous. Though admittedly not nearly as dangerous as the Wastelands.”

Before Chell could ask what the Wastelands were, the scenery outside the window changed. Where there had once been rolling green hills and forested areas, there was now just ash, dust, rust, and concrete.

“What happened here?” Chell gasped, her eyes wide at the scene of such destruction.

“That’s one of the many Wastelands in Japan, kiddo,” Hizashi sighed. “Ugly scars, aren’t they? Nothing grows there, plants die after a few weeks, so the area remains barren and useless. What you see before you is the aftermath of the Seven Hour War. Within seven hours, five sixths of humanity were wiped out, the rest trapped in the few hundred cities that were spared.”

Chell stared out of the window in shock, scarcely believing the words she heard.

“Why’s it so dangerous?” she finally asked. “Couldn’t people scavenge through the ruins?”

“Oh sure, some people do,” Hizashi nodded. “But the problem is that what’s in there isn’t all that valuable, and who’s in there often aren’t all too friendly. See, the Wastelands might be a desolate place, but there are plenty of places to hide out there, so you often find bandits, criminals, villains, and all manner or bad people out there. Add in the wildlife that passes through, and you have a place that no one wants anything to do with.”

The rest of the train ride was silent, the presence of the Wastelands seeming to create an oppressive atmosphere, as if passing through it disturbed the dead who supposedly lay there in unmarked graves. Yet all the while, Chell couldn’t find herself able to look away. No signs could be seen, the colour faded from sun damage, and almost all of the buildings had long since collapsed. The few who remained standing weren’t whole either, many of them missing entire walls or roofs. Chell thought she might have seen figures moving amongst the rubble, but she hoped that was simply her fear playing tricks on her mind. If Hizashi thought anything of her taking a hold of his hand for comfort, he didn’t voice it.

The amount of ruined buildings slowly decreased as they approached the station, the ground no longer having the ruined remains of buildings scattered across the dusty ground, but rather lone pieces of rubble that hadn’t yet been eroded away.

“Come on, my apartment is nearby,” Hizashi said, walking off the train, Chell following beside him. As they exited, Chell was greeted by the sound of hundreds, possibly thousands of people, all moving about, either boarding or disembarking from the trains. While the sounds of the crowds should have been comforting, a noise that Chell had grown up around, she had grown used to the eerie silence that was found in the bowels of Aperture Science. As it was now, the noise only caused her anxiety and fearfulness. She stayed close to Hizashi, still holding his hand, using him as a barrier against the swell of people within the train station.

Emerging out of the station, Chell looked around in awe and curiosity. Behind them, Chell saw towering walls that seemed to wrap around the city, the train station seeming to poke through the large construct. On the roads, motorcycles and tramlines went about their business, though Chell was surprised to see a surprisingly low amount of cars on the streets.

Hizashi led them to a bus station of some kind, and after only a short moment of wait, the bus arrived, moving more quietly than any other bus Chell had seen before. Gazing out of the window, Chell took in all manner of interesting sights. First of all were the walls, always seeming to be on the outskirts of the city. On the faces of buildings, all manner of advertisements were shown on billboards, ranging from coffee advertisements to clothing options. While this wasn’t a new sight to Chell, the brands that they advertised were all alien to her, not only the text, but also the products unknown. Chell also saw strange, manta ray-like creatures flying about, creatures that Chell had never seen before. But most strange were the people. Chell had guessed that there were many different kinds of people in this world, assuming the dog man she had seen wasn’t her misremembering things, but what she saw really cemented it. She saw people with unnatural hair colours all around; blues, greens, and reds. Some people had purple skin, while others had scales or horns. But most strange were those who didn’t look close to being humans. Some had tails, others had multiple limbs, while many more seemed like animals who walked on two legs.

Hizashi caught Chell’s attention by tapping her shoulder. “This is our stop,” he told her, moving up from his seat. “My place is just down the road.”

By just down the road, Hizashi meant a five minute walk. They arrived at a moderately sized house, a two story building located in a well off area.

“One of the perks of being a Pro Hero is that I get a bonus from the government to spend on my Hero Agency,” Hizashi explained as they entered his house, taking off his shoes. He glanced over at Chell, opening his mouth to say something, but closed it as he looked down at her bare feet.

“ Hmm, another thing we’ll need to buy,” he muttered as he spoke to himself, before changing back to the original topic. “Most Pros spend theirs on a fancy building, with signage and everything. But that’s not really my style, so instead, my Agency funds go towards my house. It’s what’s allowed me to get this place, rather than having to buy an apartment.”

Chell was shown around the house, and she quickly realised how spacious it was. Down stairs contained a recording booth, “For my awesome radio station,” was Hizashi’s answer. A full kitchen, living room, dining room, and even a small garden behind the house. But most shockingly was where Chell would be staying.

“I, get a whole room, to myself?” Chell stammered, shocked by what she was being offered.

“Of course, little listener!” Hizashi grinned, sweeping his arm around the room. “I have two spare rooms anyway so my friends can crash here when they need to, but you can take one of them. The bed’s already done up, so we’re good on that front, and there should be spare clothes in the drawer. Obviously, we’ll have to go shopping to get your own stuff, and maybe some things to decorate the room, but I have a good feeling we can make it work!”

The room was easily larger than anything she’d slept in. Even at the orphanage she’d never slept in a room this size, and every room she had been in she had to share. But she was getting this whole space, all for herself. 

 “Thank you,” Chell whispered, wrapping her arms around Hizashi, holding onto him tight.

Hizashi stiffened within her embrace, before gently reciprocating the hug, patting her back. “No problem, kiddo.”

For dinner, Hizashi decided to order in, and given the fact that Chell had never experienced it, Hizashi decided to order his favourite; fried chicken. Hizashi sorted out some drinks for them while they waited, and Chell got another opportunity to get used to their fizzy nature. She didn’t mind the supposedly lemon flavour of the drink, even though she didn’t think it tasted remotely like lemons, but she still preferred the cherry flavour drink from the train station. Chell settled down onto the corner seat of a sofa while Hizashi sat across from her, telling stories about his job while Chell simply listened. It was surreal to learn that her caretaker was a genuine hero, just like those in the comic books she’d sometimes find tossed out in a bin. Learning that there were also villains should have been a surprise to Chell, but given her experiences with GLaDOS and Wheatley, she figured that the both of them would qualify as villains in their own right.

Time seemed to fly as Hizashi told story after story of different villains he had fought and defeated, and soon enough their meal had arrived. Chell had never tasted anything as tasty as fried chicken before, making sure to get every last scrap of meat on the bones.

“You’ve got the right idea, kiddo!” Hizashi laughed, pointing his wing at Chell. “Shota and Nemuri, they both think I’m obsessed with fried chicken, but you get it, right? How good it is?”

Chell vigorously nodded her approval, her mouth full of chicken. But just as all good things must come to an end, so too did the chicken run out. Even though Hizashi said he was fine with doing all of the cleaning up, Chell didn’t want to be a burden, wanting to prove that she could be useful.

“Alright, everything’s away,” Hizashi nodded, flopping down onto his couch as Chell sat across from him, her legs tucked up against her chest.

“Given the expression you had when looking out the window, you’ve probably got a bunch of questions you want to ask, huh, kiddo?” Hizashi continued, sitting up straight and gesturing his hand to Chell. “Well, go on. What question do you want to ask first?”

Okay, so I decided to cut the chapter in half and leave it here. The events that were going to be in this chapter will be in the next one. Also, this way it allows for you readers to send in your questions! So, any questions you want Chell to ask, write them up. Any questions you want to ask me, write them up. If you want to know a random fact, ask and you shall receive. Obviously I can’t guarantee that all of them will be chosen, either due to quantity or the nature of the question, but I’ll try to have Chell or myself answer as many as possible.

A small rant, but I have developed a new hatred for the system that Horikoshi implemented for U.A. Just to break it down for you, U.A. has eleven classes per year, and with three years in the school, that’s a total of thirty three classes. Now, each class has a homeroom teacher, meaning that there are AT LEAST thirty three teachers. This obviously doesn’t include staff who don’t teach, such as Hound Dog, the Guidance Councilor, or Lunch Rush, the school chef, or Thirteen, who manages the U.S.J. (unless she’s also a science teacher or something). For simplicity’s sake, we can assume that Midnight, Present Mic, Ectoplasm, as well as Cementoss, along with many others, also are assigned to a homeroom class. Now, the problem is that U.A. has a six period day, and a six day week. There are also eleven classes to teach per year level. So I’m struggling to divide it amongst the teachers in terms of their responsibilities. Take Present Mic for example. He teaches English as a subject, and I’d assume he wouldn’t be assigned to his own homeroom class. Let’s assume he teaches English to the first years. Problem: there are eleven classes (ten if you don’t count his own), so even if he teaches a class each period, there are still five (four) classes that need to be taught. Of course, it doesn’t make much sense for the two English teachers of the first years to swap who teaches one specific class. This might sound like the ramblings of a mad man, and you’re probably right in that assumption, because I CAN’T STAND THE U.A. SCHOOL SYSTEM! Anyway, I’m kind of stuck on how to solve it. It isn’t a big deal, since the main changes to the U.A. system that will be fully on display is to do with the Hero Course, but if anyone has any ideas, pop them in a comment. If they help out, idk, you can make up an O.C. who’ll appear for a chapter. I do need some villains and/or Pros to appear for the Intern and Work Studies arcs.

Also, assuming Class 1-A and 1-B have the same number of students as every other class, that means that there are twenty students in each of the thirty three classes, giving us a total student body count of six hundred and sixty. I mean, I don’t know about you, but to me, that seems small.

Anyway, enough rambling, onto reviews.

Atromitos1526, thanks for the review. I’m glad you enjoyed my spin on things, kind of changing the standard format of character a being sent into dimension b, but instead character a stayed in dimension a, she’s just not used to it. As for your question regarding her quirk, good question. Chell’s portals (at the moment) don’t require moon rocks to function, but instead a flat surface large enough to accommodate the portals. Glass, concrete, wood, so long as it’s solid and flat, she can place them there. 

Quanto, thanks for the review. It’s less like GLaDOS fucked up, and more like Aperture Science did Aperture Science things, i.e. throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks. They made a portal to somewhere unknown, threw stuff through it, lost its signal, chalked it up as dimensional travel, and called it a day. Now, for your question regarding the multiverse, a clarification. Each universe has ONE habitable world. That’s why, in my mind, the Combine is so hyper aggressive in their invasion, because Earth is the only planet in that dimension with life. Life that they need for their synth weapons and vehicles, which are a mesh of organic and machine. As for the SCP franchise, buddy oh boy, do I know of them. I went down the rabbit hole and I can’t find my way out of it. As for some Personality Cores lost in space, you’ll have to wait and see.

TheGigaGamer75, thanks for the review. Now, people will know she’s Brazilian, and it will feature in the future. I plan to have all of her super moves to be in Portuguese, not only as a nod to her heritage, but also so villains don’t know she’s about to send them to the Moon. As for her cover story, Nezu would have it that Chell is Brazilian, but raised in Japan in the Outlands before being kidnapped. And yeah, her cover story is bogus to those of us in the know. Chell would absolutely bust out of her captivity, lead a revolt, and escape with a healthy amount of explosions in the background. I have her marked down in Class 1-A as one of the most stubborn characters, tied only with Katsuki. I’ve also been juggling the idea of what relationship I want them to have. It isn’t romantic, I already know who I’m pairing Chell with, but it’s either going to be animosity with a tinge of respect or respect with animosity. For me, Katsuki hates those who don’t put in as much effort into things as he does. That’s why he doesn’t like Izuku or Shoto at the start of the series, because let's be honest, Izuku was an otaku whose dreams were way too big to be realistic or possible, while Shoto actively looked down on everyone by holding back. Chell puts her all into stuff, so Katsuki would respect that, regardless of how their relationship goes. IDK, Chell and Katuski rivalry, anyone?

* Prepares to go to next comment, checks message, checks number, checks author comments in previous chapter. * 

Fuck!

the_Blue_Moon, thanks for the review. To be completely honest, I was today years old when I heard about Entropy Zero. After a quick search, it looks interesting, so a tentative maybe? You’ll receive some answers about what happened to the Combine next chapter, but I’ll have a think about it. Fully transparency, the Combine will not make an appearance here, they’re gone and banished for the foreseeable future. Now, Combine loyalists and sympathisers? They’re still kicking around. As for your question with Dr. Vance, all I’ll say is wait for next chapter for the reveal, and the chapter after that for the backstory.

i_really_should_be_sleeping, thanks for the review. Portal 2 is never confirmed for when it takes place. We know it takes place a while after Portal 1, which took place in 2010, soon after the Combine invasion, but thirty years seemed like a believable time for the facility to experience plant growth. As for GLaDOS, while I won’t spoil everything, all I’ll say is that there is no love lost between her and Chell. They will inevitably end up on the opposite sides of a conflict. However, funny you should mention GLaDOS being attractive, all I’ll say is that I took inspiration from a certain Portal animation channel who currently has about 150k subscribers. First person to name them gets a cookie.

123 (Guest), thanks for the review. While not all of your ideas for GLaDOS are correct, they are amusing, so I’ll go through them and either confirm, deny, or hint at them. Yes, GLaDOS ran out of her test subjects in Aperture, we know this thanks to the Portal 2 co-op story mode. As for the rest, GLaDOS is aware of what’s happening in the world, but wants absolutely no part of it, especially given her previous experiences. However, while GLaDOS didn’t create a moon base (amusing as that idea is), she did begin to phase out machine testing. How? Well, you’ll have to wait and see. But yes, GLaDOS is now in complete control over Aperture Science, and boy, is that going to be a terrifying thought for me to write in the future.

IJustWantToReadAndWriteStories, thanks for the review, I’m glad you liked my idea to add in Half-Life into this fic. And yeah, the robot PTSD is going to be a thing for Chell. She’s going to be able to vent out a bunch of her issues during the Entrance Exam, that’s for sure.

Finally, ultima-owner, thanks for the review. Yeah, GLaDOS is completely expecting to never see Chell ever again. But the moment she does (and she will), she’s going to go full panic mode. Well, less panic, and more planning mode. And this time, she intends to finish the job. And she’s fully aware of the mistake of not only sparing Chell when she was unconscious, but also upgrading her. So, in the words of one robotic CEO, “Upgrades, people, upgrades!”

And as a general thank you, cheers to florffleef, UnivHunter, SilverExcel115, UnfortunateEntropy, and Ste4m3dReader for your excitement and enjoyment of my series.

Now, while I did say last chapter that the title of this chapter was going to be, ‘ Found Family ’, I changed my mind, because I decided to do that one next chapter. So, next chapter, for real this time, is ‘ Found Family ’.

See y’all next time…

- Jevm

Chapter Text

Chell shuffled around on the couch, trying to find a comfortable position to sit in. Finding a spot that she was satisfied with in the corner, she glanced up at Hizashi, who was watching her with an amused grin.

“Got yourself settled in?” he asked, handing her a mug with a brown, warm liquid, a similar drink in his other hand.

Chell took the offered beverage, giving it a tentative sniff. Her eyes widened at the sweet, chocolatey smell. She’d never had chocolate before, though she had smelled it a few times. It was often during festivals and carnivals, sometimes vendors would have booths with melted chocolate. Of course, you had to pay for it, so Chell had never had the chance until now. Taking a small sip, she fought the urge to smile as the sweet, warm flavour of the drink hit her tongue.

“Like it, huh?” Hizashi grinned, nodding his head at her drink. “What you have in your hands is good old hot cocoa, or hot chocolate as some people call it. Most folks in Japan aren’t a fan of the flavour, but I’ve always had an appreciation for how people do things in the West. I figured that it was a safe bet that you’d like it too.”

“It’s warm,” Chell murmured, taking another sip, not wanting to drink it all too quickly. “And sweet.”

“That’s the idea,” Hizashi chuckled, drinking from his own cup. “It took me a while before I managed to have my own drink of hot cocoa, but once I did, man was I hooked.”

Hizashi sat down in a chair opposite Chell, placing his drink on a side table as he focused on her.

“So, I guess you have a bunch of questions, right?” he asked, holding his hands together. “Go ahead, any question that tickles your fancy, and I’ll try to answer them as best as I can. Hell, any question I’m not confident on we can look up tomorrow, alright?”

Chell nodded, her eyebrows frowning as she tried to think of which question to start with.

“What exactly are quirks?” she started. “You explained that they’re what people in Japan call superpowers, but what are they exactly? How many people have them?”

“Okay, good start,” Hizashi nodded, thinking for a moment. “Well, the most simple answer is that quirks are the label given to any power that isn’t considered natural or standard. Someone having frizzy hair, while odd isn’t exactly unnatural, so it isn’t considered a quirk. However, having hair that stands on end without needing any product, that would be considered a quirk. A quirk can also be on the opposite end, something that no human should be able to achieve! Super strength, creating flames from your body, controlling fabric, those are some of the quirks that belong to the strongest heroes in Japan at the moment.”

“What do heroes do?” Chell interjected, tilting her head. “You mentioned that you’re a hero. Is that a title?”

“Well, it’s more of a job,” Hizashi admitted. “Now, this is specific for Japan, but the Japanese government doesn’t like people using their quirks out in public. If you’re at home or on private property, that’s one thing, but out in public? Big no no! A hero is someone who is given a license by the Japanese government, specifically the Hero Public Safety Commission, a governmental organisation, that allows them to not only use their quirk out in public, but to also use it to capture people who commit crimes.”

“I can’t use my powers?” Chell gasped, her eyes widening. 

“Not in public,” Hizashi clarified. “Because you used them at U.A., which is considered private property, you’ll only be in trouble if Principal Nezu has an issue with it, but given he’s a staunch anti-restriction kind of rodent, I doubt he’ll make a fuss.”

“But why can’t people use their powers, their quirks?” Chell asked. “Aren’t people born with them?”

“Yeah, and the reason why is messy,” Hizashi sighed. “Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t agree with the current laws regarding quirks. I’m of the belief that people should have the ability to use their quirks in a non-destructive manner that doesn’t do harm to anyone or to someone’s belongings. Now, using your quirk to defend yourself, that’s more of a gray area. On one hand, it makes sense to defend yourself to the fullest ability in a life and death situation. The problem is that most people don’t know how to use their quirks safely, and in the heat of the moment, you could very easily kill someone without trying to. Then you get into the mess of vigilantes and whether or not their intention justifies them breaking the law or not, and you can see where the problems are.”

“And vigilantes are those who want to be heroes, but don’t have those quirk licenses, right?” Chell asked.

“Yep, got it in one,” Hizashi nodded. “Some folks never had the opportunity to become heroes, for one reason or another, but despite that, still want to fight the good fight. Now, some heroes who are sticklers for the rules, like Endeavor, the current No. 2 Pro Hero in Japan, or Ingenium, a Pro Hero who operates one of the largest agencies in Tokyo, would say that vigilantism is simply another word for villany, someone who commits a crime by using their powers. Others, like myself, would say that it’s the intent that counts. Are you doing it simply for revenge? Yeah, that’s pretty villainous. Are you doing it to keep your community safe? Then I’d say it’s okay in my books. Course, it doesn’t matter much what I think; the law’s the law, and the law says that you can’t use your quirk for any reason without a license.”

“That’s stupid,” Chell scowled, glaring down at her drink. “Why shouldn’t you use your powers to defend yourself?”

“Preaching to the choir, kid,” Hizashi sighed. “Back in the day, it used to be legal in Japan to use your quirk to defend yourself. But, as the generations went on and quirks not only became more common but also more varied, it became harder and harder to judge it, so a blanket ban on illegal quirk usage was implemented. Load of bull if you ask me, but I can only bend the rules so much before I get in trouble.”

“So, what do the police do?” Chell asked. “If heroes are real, and they capture bad guys, why employ cops?”

“And how do you know we have cops in this world?” Hizashi asked with a cheeky grin.

“I saw one on the bus,” Chell retorted with a deadpan expression. “We passed right by a station.”

Hizashi’s mouth hung open, a retort frozen in his lungs as he thought back to the route they had taken. 

“Oh yeah, there is a police station on the way,” he muttered. “Well, you got me! Yes, police are still employed, and yes, they still have a function. See, quirk licences aren’t a blank cheque for using your quirk. Heroes are only allowed to use them to intentionally harm people if they’re villains. Now, kiddo, wanna take a guess on what the difference is between a villain and a criminal?”

“If they use powers?” Chell guessed, causing Hizashi to snap two finger guns at her.

“Ding ding ding, that’s right! A villain is a criminal who illegally uses their quirk. So a random purse thief who doesn’t use their quirk? We can’t harm or use our quirks on them. Now, restraining, sure, but no quirks.”

“So what else can’t heroes do?” Chell asked, starting to enjoy the ask and response flow.

“Well, heroes aren’t allowed to take the law into our own hands,” Hizashi explained, pausing briefly to take a drink. “For instance, while heroes are able to capture villains, we aren’t able to make the arrest, that’s the job of the police. We either have to keep them restrained until the police arrive, or deliver them to the nearest station ourselves. Another important law is that heroes can’t kill.”

“What?” Chell frowned. “Why not? If someone’s killing a bunch of people, aren’t their lives more important than the villains?!”

Hizashi sighed, sinking into his chair as he finished off his drink.

“Yeah, that’s a bit of a tough subject,” he admitted. “Officially, Pro Heroes aren’t allowed to kill, regardless of where in the world you got your licence from or where you operate, that’s just a blanket, international law, one of the few international laws these days. Heroes aren’t meant to take the law into their own hands, and killing a villain is the biggest example of that.”

“Officially?” Chell asked, her face betraying her confusion. “Are there exceptions?”

“Very rarely,” Hizashi nodded. “See, while Pro Heroes have a numerical ranking system, from one all the way down the list, villains have a different system to rank them. They’re assigned a letter to categorise how powerful and dangerous they are. F-Rank villains are just mooks with quirks, someone who can easily be taken down, even if you don’t have a quirk. E-Ranks are a bit tougher, and they get more and more dangerous as you go up the list, until you get to A-Rank, who are villains who might require entire teams of heroes to go up against. All of them, from A to F, are protected by the law, at least officially. Depending on the country will depend on how lenient they are, but here in Japan, there’s no excuse, no killing them. 

“However, there is an exception. The most dangerous villains are given an S-Rank, and these are some nasty bastards, sometimes powerful enough to destroy an entire city by themselves, and that’s a loss that can’t be replaced. So for them, they are no longer protected by the no killing law. They are to be treated with the highest level of caution and fear, and if they can’t be captured quickly, every chance to kill them should be taken. They are a priority target, because if we can’t beat them, they’ll kill a whole lot of people.”

“Are there many of them?” Chell wondered. The idea of people that powerful was strange to comprehend, even for her.

“Fortunately not,” Hizashi chuckled. “Those kinds of villains show up once in a blue moon, every generation or so. Most of Japan’s S-Rank villains are locked up in Tartarus, a maximum-security prison for the most dangerous villains, those that didn’t have to be put down. So don’t worry, little listener, there aren’t any villains that powerful out there.”

Chell nodded, letting out a subtle sigh of relief. She paused to think of more questions, only for a statement that Hizashi had said that had caught her attention.

“What do you mean that cities can’t be replaced?” she asked. “Is that because of that war you mentioned, the seven something war that created the Wastelands?”

“The Seven Hour War, and yes, it is related to that,” Hizashi explained. “I assume cities in your world are different?”

“We don’t have walls surrounding our cities,” Chell explained. “You can just drive through them until you reach the countryside.”

“Really?” Hizashi gasped, his eyes wide.

Chell gave him a confused look, one that he recognised as he chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

“Sorry, I know it must sound strange to you, but for me, the idea of anyone driving their car out of the city is simply strange, like something out of an old story.”

Hizashi held his chin in his hands, quietly talking to himself.

“You don’t know about the Seven Hour War, so that’s an obvious difference between our worlds. Consequently, your cities are different and there aren’t Wastelands…”

Hizashi looked up at Chell with a questioning gaze. “Do you know what the Gregorian calendars are?”

Chell nodded, taking a final drink from her cup.

“Alright, well that’s a start. What year was it when you came here?”

Chell opened her mouth to answer, only to hesitate.

‘What should I answer?’ she thought. ‘I know I was in stasis for years after I killed GLaDOS, but I don’t know for how long.’

“Before I applied with Aperture, it was 2008,” Chell explained.

Hizashi’s bug-eyed expression and hanging jaw told more than a thousand words.

“Y-You’re from the 21st century?” Hizashi gaped. “Holy shit, kid, you’ve jumped reality AND time!”

“What’s the date?” Chell hesitantly asked, fearing the answer. “Today, I mean.”

“Chell, you’re in the 23rd century.”

The floor seemed to drop underneath the couch that Chell rested on. Two hundred years in what felt like an instant. Finding herself in not only a different world, but also a different time.

‘But what if you’re wrong?’ an insidious voice whispered in her mind.

The mere thought created a chill grip on Chell’s heart. What if her darkest thoughts were right? What if she hadn’t gone to a different world? If she wasn’t a world away from GLaDOS? What if she had simply been sent to the future? It couldn’t be possible, right? Aperture Science had invented portal travel technology, not time travel technology.

But then a worse thought burrowed into her mind. What if she was wrong? What if she HAD been sent into the future? What were the implications? Everyone she had known before Aperture would be dead, but there weren’t many that she knew in her old life that she’d ever want to see again. Everything that she knew was different, from brands to places. Apparently society had changed as well.

‘What if she’s alive?’

The thought caused Chell’s heart to stop. The idea that she wasn’t free, still trapped like she had when she was little more than an experiment, a test subject. GLaDOS was immortal, she’d proved that already. She could store her memories in a backup, and as a machine she didn’t age. What if she found her? What if she had centuries to prepare, to plan? What if, what if Chell couldn’t overcome her like she had overcome every obstacle that life loved to throw at her, making her already difficult life harder than it needed to be. What if-

“Chell, hey, stay with me!” Hizashi begged, his voice cutting through her doubts and fears. Chell’s eyes focused, Hizashi’s worried face in front of her. Glancing around, Chell saw the legs of the couch, quickly realising that she had collapsed onto the ground, the soft carpet pressed against her face. Chell felt her body being pulled upright, Hizashi’s firm grip on her shoulders.

“You gave me a hell of a scare, kiddo,” Hizashi nervously chuckled. “Any idea what caused it?”

Chell pulled her legs to her chest, her arms wrapping around them to keep them close as her back leaned against the couch.

“What if I didn’t go to a different dimension, Hizashi?” she whispered. “What if I wasn’t able to escape from it all?”

Hizashi sighed, sitting down next to her. “Well, I’d say that, in a sense, you have. Even if this is still your world, that you’ve only jumped time rather than reality, you’re still two hundred years in the future, it’s practically a new world anyway!”

Chell didn’t respond for a while, instead burying her face in her knees, trying to calm her racing heart.

“What happened?” she mumbled, looking at Hizashi from the side of her eye. “After Aperture put me in stasis? What happened to the world?”

“Well, that question is probably one that anyone in the world would be able to answer, kiddo,” Hizashi chuckled. “It happened a year after you went under, on May 16, 2009. Some American company called Black Mesa was doing experiments, experiments that resulted in tears in reality opening, allowing for creatures from another dimension to come pouring in. These portals opened up all across the world, with new and dangerous alien creatures popping up all over the place. People started calling this event ‘Portal Storms’, and they lasted for weeks. More and more creatures started appearing, a lot of them dangerous. Various governments told their citizens to gather in the cities, making it easier to defend people, rather than having to spread out the military. And that seemed to work, for the most part. But, those portal storms seemed to have caught the attention of something more dangerous.

“We called them the Combine. They found our reality thanks to the portal storms, and sought to conquer Earth. Humanity resisted, of course, but it was fruitless. The conflict lasted seven hours, hence the name, Seven Hour War. Billions died in the fighting, as the Combine bombarded all but the largest cities. The fighting came to an end when Wallace Breen, a Black Mesa scientist, had made a deal with the Combine; they’d stop the invasion, so long as humanity surrendered to their unconditional rule. Humanity didn’t have a choice, and so began twenty years of slavery underneath our extradimensional masters.”

“Why didn’t we resist?” Chell asked, finding it hard to believe that people wouldn’t fight back. She knew that if she was in that situation, she’d have fought tooth and nail for her freedom.

“Oh, people fought back alright,” Hizashi nodded, a sombre expression on his face. “Rebel cells formed across the world; in every city that the Combine had spared, turned into their administration zones, pockets of resistance could be found. But as the years went on, less and less people fought back. The Combine were millennia ahead of humanity, with techno-organic vehicles and soldiers, energy weaponry, and more. But the worst use of their power was preventing humanity from reproducing. They created something called a Suppression Field. It made every human sterile, ensuring that every lost life couldn’t be replaced. Pair that with the ecosystems being contaminated with alien fauna and radiation, and chemicals being put into the city drinking water to make people forgetful, and over the years less and less people resisted. Some humans even willingly joined up with the Combine, becoming members of the Civil Protection, while those unlucky few who resisted but were captured had their minds broken, being tortured into the Combine’s much more dangerous transhuman soldiers.”

“How did humanity win?” Chell asked, turning her face to properly look at Hizashi. “They’re gone, right?”

“Oh yeah, they’re gone,” Hizashi grinned, “been gone for hundreds of years. See, twenty years after the Seven Hour War, humanity not only was still enslaved across the globe, but in dire straights. Because no kids were being born, humanity’s population only continued to drop. Add in executions for the slightest sign of resistance or defiance, random inspections, and workplace hazards, and humanity's already small population had dropped to just over half a billion. Imagine that: the fifth of humanity who had survived the Seven Hour War, being whittled down to a tenth of what humanity had once been. But when everything seemed lost, he arrived.

“Nobody knew his name, or if people had, it’s been lost to time, but the Combine called him The Freeman. The Vortigaunts, an alien species who had been fleeing the Combine as well, had a different title for him; The One Free Man. He was their messianic figure, having defeated their slave masters twenty years ago, when the first portal storms ravaged Earth, only to disappear. But he returned, appearing in City 17, what is now known as the Citystate of Sofia. Those who have a more religious view of The Freeman state that the reason why he appeared in City 17 was because it was the heart of the Combine’s forces on Earth. It was from here that the Citadel was located, as well as where Wallace Breen resided.

“Both the Vortigaunts and the city’s rebel group flocked to him, following in his wake. He was said to be a master of all weaponry, able to pick up a gun and use it like he had centuries of training with it. But the most powerful ability he had was that he appeared to have a quirk. The true nature of his ability is still contested. Some claim that he was the first human to have a quirk, or meta-ability. Others say that he wasn’t a human at all, but something greater, and thus his powers couldn’t be considered a quirk. The third main view of The Freeman, mainly held by the Church of Light, claim that he was simply a human with advanced technology, though their claims are often thought of as outlandish and born out of their religion’s distaste for The One Free Man. Regardless of the origin of his power, this being was able to move objects around with crackling chains of yellow energy, and he led the attacks against the Combine forces. But it was after The Freeman’s attack on a Combine prison that change started to happen. You see, somehow, a broadcast of the attack had been shown on every screen, monitor, and outlet, across the world. The entire human population saw that the Combine weren’t untouchable, that they could be challenged. That spark of hope quickly ignited the bonfire of resistance, people rising up in every city on Earth, fighting back against the Combine.”

“And it worked, right?” Chell asked, her eyes wide with hope as she listened, enraptured by the history she was learning.

“Not at first,” Hizashi admitted. “Remember, even with almost the entire human population who hadn’t yet bent the knee to the Combine rising up, the Combine still had their advanced weaponry, their transhuman forces, as well as various Synths, biomechanical weapons and vehicles. But despite the losses, despite the struggles, humanity fought on. Historical records claim that people were visited in their sleep by a man in a suit, encouraging them, telling them the fighting was nearing its end. And so humanity fought on. A day passed, then two, then four, then six. Street by street, humanity fought for each centimetre lost, each life taken. But on the seventh day, humanity won. A broadcast showed the Citadel, the chair of the Combine’s authority on Earth, being destroyed in a massive explosion. A shockwave of energy was felt all across the world, shutting down the Combine synths, depriving the human forces loyal to the Combine of their greatest assets. The fighting continued for weeks, until the last of the Combine forces were pushed out of every city, into the Wastelands. Humanity, after two decades, was finally free.”

Chell’s attention was fully focused on Hizashi’s words, the tale of resistance and determination striking a cord within the girl.

“But unfortunately, the rest of the story will have to wait for tomorrow,” Hizashi concluded, flashing Chell a knowing smirk.

“What?!” Chell protested, her fists clenched at her side. “Hizashi, you can’t end it there! What happened next?! When do quirks come in?!”

“I promise to continue our little history lesson tomorrow, Chell, but it’s late,” Hizashi argued, gesturing to a clock on the wall, the face of which showed just how late into the evening it was. “Tomorrow I’ve got classes to teach, and Recovery Girl will be wanting to see you anyway. She’s got some fitness program she wants done, testing what you’re capable of and all.”

Chell huffed at her guardian’s reasoning, looking to the side as she did.

“Fine,” she muttered, standing up from the ground. “Which room am I staying in?”

“Come on, I’ll show you,” Hizashi said, standing up and leading her to one of the spare bedrooms. “Nemuri often takes this room, so you’ll probably feel better sleeping here rather than where Shota sleeps.”

“Are they friends of yours?” Chell asked as Hizashi made some final changes to the room.

“Yeah, my best friends,” Hizashi smiled. “I’ve known the both of them for years, since we were all students at U.A. They’re like siblings to me, so they sometimes crash at my place whenever they need to. Nemuri sometimes comes over whenever she’s in Tokyo and doesn’t want to catch the train ride home late at night, and Shota crashes over when he needs someone to talk to.”

“Will I meet them?” Chell asked, curious what these friends of Hizashi were like.

“You’ve actually met Shota already,” Hizashi revealed. “He was one of the guys Principal Nezu chose to meet you. He was the one with the large scarf around his neck.”

“The homeless guy?” Chell asked, tilting his head. “The one who looked like he hadn’t slept?”

“Yep, that’s him!” Hizashi laughed, amused by her description. “Since Shota’s an underground hero, the type who specialise in nighttime fighting, he often catches up on missed sleep in his classroom using a sleeping bag. He looks like this big, yellow grub! It’s honestly so funny the first time you see it!”

Hizashi laid out some clothing on the bed, a simple pair of pants and a long sleeved shirt.

“Sorry that the clothing might be bigger than you’re used to, but I figured Nemuri wouldn’t mind you using them while you don’t have any spare clothes of your own. That, and these were the most decent pair I could find.”

Hizashi walked out of the room, closing the door behind him until only his head leaned out through the opening.

“Goodnight, kiddo,” he smiled. “Try to get to sleep quickly; we’ve got an early start tomorrow. Sleep tight.”

With that, he closed the door behind him, leaving Chell alone in what was now her new room. Stripping off her old clothing, Chell slipped into the fresh set, trying to ignore how loose it felt on her. After turning off the lights, she pulled the covers on the bed back, laying down as the moonlight streamed through an open window, the quiet noise of the city a comforting, familiar sound.

-]l[-

How long had Chell been trying to sleep? An hour? Two? Maybe not even one? Whatever the answer, Chell knew one thing; she couldn’t fall asleep. No matter if she lay on her side, her back, or her front, nothing worked. Turning over the pillow and resting her head on the cool side didn’t cut it, nor did sleeping with the blankets covering only her feet. Regardless of what she tried, Chell simply couldn’t fall asleep. How could she, when her mind was full of worried thoughts.

What if her fears were right, and she was still in her world, only hundreds of years in the future? Did that mean that GLaDOS was still out there, or had the A.I. perished in the past? Was GLaDOS even aware that her plan had failed? How was Chell going to have a life? After all, even if she wanted to go to school, something she’d never experienced, she legally didn’t exist. She had no records, no birth certificates, no forms of identification.

‘Well, at least some things haven’t changed,’ she silently grumbled, idly staring out the open window. Light streamed in from a full moon, the pale light illuminating the city. It was strange to think that she had been to the Moon before. How many people alive could say they’ve done that? Chell reckoned not many, if any at all.

‘You don’t deserve this,’ a voice whispered in Chell’s mind. ‘After all, Hizashi is a hero, someone who fights villains. Fights people like you.’

‘I’m not a villain,’ Chell argued, turning over to face away from the window. ‘I just had a hard life.’

‘Oh yes, because that’s a good excuse,’ the voice taunted. ‘Did you steal and rob because of your hard life? Was that the only way? No, of course it wasn’t, but it was the easiest.’

‘Well what other choice did I have?!’ Chell yelled in her mind, her hands grabbing fistfulls of the blankets. ‘Who was going to hire me, an orphan kid, to do a job?!’

‘Did you ever try?’

Chell was silent, scowling instead of answering the question.

‘No, of course you didn’t,’ the voice smirked. ‘After all, little Chell doesn’t give up when she’s set her sights on something, right? No matter what, or who, gets in your way, you’ll simply go through them, consequences be damned. It’s always been your greatest strength, and your greatest weakness.’

‘You don’t know anything,’ Chell hissed.

‘Of course I do,’ the voice laughed. ‘After all, I’m you. I’m the doubts that plague you, the voice you hear when you don’t know if you can do something. I’m your anxiety, your fear, your uncertainty. So when I say that I know you, I mean it. I know that your greatest strength, your determination, is also your greatest flaw. You’re so determined to see something through once you’ve settled on it, that you’re blind to any other possibility that appears. It doesn’t matter if it’s easier or harder, if it’s right or wrong. You made up your mind, so the world had better get out of your way, right?’

‘Shut up.’

‘After all, you were determined to make it on your own when you left the orphanage. You didn’t want anyone's help, even though life would have been easier. That’s why you kept people at arm's length, why you were always on the move, never staying in one place long enough to grow attached.’

‘Shut up.’

‘That’s why you hated it whenever people tried to help, because you had it in your head that to accept help was a sign of weakness, that they thought you couldn’t do it.’

‘Shut up!’

‘And if someone offered you a job, offered you money, took pity on you? Oh, you’d hate them, wouldn’t you? You’d see it as them pitying you, seeing you as this weak, helpless child, when you’d rather people hate you than think of you as weak.’

‘Shut up!’

‘I bet you hate Hizashi, don’t you? He had no reason to take you in, to look after you, to feed and shelter you. He thinks you’re a weak, helpless child that needs to be comforted. I wonder what he’ll think of you when he sees how selfish you really are.’

‘I SAID SHUT UP!’

Chell lay in the bed, gasping for air, furiously blinking back tears that she refused to let fall. Her anger seemed to banish her thoughts, her mind a still, quiet, tranquil place for a time.

‘She’ll come for him, you know.’

Chell gasped as the voice, her own thoughts, spoke.

‘If we’re right, that we and GLaDOS are still together in the same world, our fight isn’t over, not until one of us is dead. And GLaDOS will use every tool at her disposal to get to us. Even targeting those we care about.’

‘Then it’s a good thing I don’t have anyone like that,’ Chell scowled.

‘Oh Chell, Chell, Chell,’ the voice sang. ‘You can lie to the world, lie to everyone in it, and they might believe your lies. You can even lie to yourself enough to believe it. But you can’t lie to me. You can’t hide the fact that you’ve already grown attached to Hizashi. My, how weak and soft you’ve become. What would our old self think of you now, wishing to be a part of something with someone.’

‘What do you mean?’ Chell asked, confusion filling her thoughts.

‘You view him as a father,’ the voice laughed. ‘You see the father you never knew in him. You see him as what you wished you had, as the father that you had discovered, a father who would care for you, who would love you, who would protect you. Because you know, deep in that black heart of yours, that Hizashi would sacrifice his life to protect you if GLaDOS tried to finish the job.’

The image of Hizashi, laying on the floor as he bled out flashed through Chell’s mind, causing her to flinch in the bed.

‘How pathetic,’ the voice snarled. ‘You’ve known him for only a day and you’re already attached. If GLaDOS had known how easy it was, how starved of love and attention you were, then I bet all she’d have to do was show you a crumb of care and you’d have thrown yourself in that fire, simply if she’d told you how good you were.’

‘I won’t let her kill him,’ Chell vowed. ‘I won’t! He shouldn’t throw his life away for someone like me. I can handle myself.’

‘You want to make sure she doesn’t target him?’ the voice asked. ‘I know a way to do that.’

‘How?’

‘It’s simple; we simply run away, distance ourselves, like we always have; like we always do; like we always will.’

‘But how?’ Chell asked. ‘Hizashi would hear me if I tried to go out the door, and I don’t know where the keys are.’

‘Oh silly, why use the door, when we can make our own. A door that allows us to go wherever we want.’

Chell’s eyes widened as she began to realise what she could do.

Slipping out of bed, she walked over to the window, looking out. Over in the distance, Chell was able to see the large, towering walls that surrounded Tokyo. Thanks to the area that Hizashi lived in, his house sat on a hill, allowing Chell to look out over the city. While it certainly wasn’t high enough to see the top of the walls, it did allow Chell to see the walls themselves.

‘Hizashi would come after us,’ Chell reasoned, torn between running away or staying.

‘For a time,’ the voice reasoned. ‘But like he said, there are plenty of places to hide in the Wastelands. And if we follow the train tracks, I’m sure we’ll come across another city to start over in. So what’s it going to be, Chell? Are you going to risk his life for your own selfish desires?’

Chell took a deep breath, hesitating as she stood on the window sill.

“I’m sorry, Hizashi,” she whispered into the night, before stretching out her right arm, a streak of orange light shooting out towards the wall. Somewhere inside of her, Chell felt the entrance to the portal tunnel form, and if she squinted her eyes and concentrated, she could make out the small sight of an orange oval on the faraway wall.

Glancing down at the ground beneath her, Chell stepped forward, entering into a brief freefall as she fell from her bedroom window. Rather than landing on her heels, allowing her implants to absorb the impact, she landed on the balls of her feet. But no searing pain was felt, the sensation of broken bones or bruised flesh absent.

‘Oh, clever,’ the voice chuckled. ‘You wanted to test yourself. If you were able to survive that fall without using your implants, you think you’ll be able to handle yourself in the Wastelands. And if you failed, Hizashi would have rushed to your cries of pain, and you’d be able to put this plan off for another night. Come now, Chell, I thought you were committed. Clearly not, if you’re second guessing yourself.’

‘Shut up,’ Chell dismissed, pointing her left hand down at the driveway. ‘You’re not even real.’

‘And yet you respond to me,’ the voice chuckled.

Chell opted to ignore it, instead watching as the portal connection was made, the blue ring of the portal showing an elevated view of the city.

Chell took a deep breath, standing in front of the portal’s bottom. Slowly exhaling, Chell began to tip forward, before gravity took hold, falling through face first. Gravity quickly shifted beneath her, and Chell shifted in response, her head aimed towards the ground as the wind whipped past her as she gained more and more momentum. Pointing both of her hands towards the ground, two streaks of light shot out of her palms, two new portal entrances forming; one directly beneath her, and the other right next to it. She fell headfirst through the orange portal, shooting up into the sky out of the blue portal, the momentum carrying her high into the air. But it wasn’t enough, as Chell was only able to get close to, rather than go further than, the top of the wall. But she wasn’t discouraged. After all, this was a technique she had refined in Aperture, a technique she used as she ran up the wall as far as she could before gravity took hold. Once it did, Chell turned, pushing downwards off the wall, accelerating her drop. Once more, she fell through the portals, but this time with the added momentum she had built, sending her flying out of the orange portal. With the built up momentum, Chell was able to briefly go above the rim of the wall. While in the past she might have been too slow to create a new portal entrance, time seemed to slow down as she concentrated, giving her ample time to create a new portal tunnel; while the orange entrance below her remained where it was, a new blue exit was formed on the top of the walls. Falling back down and through the orange portal, Chell soared above the walls, observing with awe the sight of the city stretching out beneath her, the lights from buildings and people who hadn’t yet gone to sleep creating a twinkling sight.

Chell concentrated on the sensation she felt in her hands, feeling it disappear as the portal entrances blinked out of existence. She landed in a crouch on the top of the wall, panting slightly from the adrenaline pumping through her blood. While she waited for her heart to calm down, Chell sat down at the edge of the wall, her legs dangling over it as she simply gazed at the city, her eyes wandering across it, focusing here and there at features that caught her attention. The flashing lights of billboards, the movement of vehicles, and even the movement of people leaping across the gaps between buildings, either villains or those underground heroes that Hizashi had mentioned.

Deciding that she had tempted fate long enough as it was by staying there, Chell stood up, turning around to face the Wastelands. The difference couldn’t have been more plain. While the city was filled with lights and sounds, the Wastelands were dead quiet and devoid of light. No illumination could be seen, only the pale light of the Moon allowing Chell to make out the outlines of the ruined buildings and structures. 

Chell hesitated as she stood on the edge of the wall. She could turn back, try and slip back into bed, and Hizashi would never be any the wiser. Chell could even forget it ever happened, pretend it had just been a strange dream. But then she remembered the pettiness of GLaDOS, how spiteful the A.I. could be. People wouldn’t be safe around Chell, not while GLaDOS had the possibility of being alive.

Chell glanced over her shoulder, looking roughly where Hizashi’s house would be. Her eyes felt hot and her chest tight as she shuffled closer to the edge, her gaze fixed on the place she had called home for only a few hours.

“Goodbye, Hizashi,” she whispered, before stepping off the wall, dropping into the Wastelands.

-]l[-

Hizashi woke up groggy. Glancing over at his bedside table, he groaned when he saw how early it was. He had gone to bed just after 10 PM, yet the clock said that it was just after midnight. Hizashi lay there, hoping that he would quickly slip back into unconsciousness. But a sense of unease lingered, preventing him from falling back asleep.

Deciding that he might just be thirsty, Hizashi got out of bed, making his way to the kitchen as quietly as he could in hopes of not disturbing Chell. But even after said water break, Hizashi still felt a sense of unease. 

‘Maybe I just have too much energy, and I need to burn some,’ he thought, dropping down into a sit up in the living room, doing reps until his core begged for him to stop. Yet the sense of unease simply wouldn’t leave.

Deciding that he might as well check up on Chell and see if she had a similar feeling, Hizashi gently opened the former guest bedroom, poking his head in. However, rather than seeing the sleeping form of the young girl in her bed, Hizashi was greeted with the sight of an empty bed, the covers pushed all the way down the bed, and the window slid open.

“Fuck,” Hizashi swore, swinging the door open as he stepped into the room. With a cursory look, there hadn’t seemed to be a struggle, so Hizashi felt he could rule that terrifying idea out. Glancing out of the open window, Hizashi couldn’t see anyone down below, so there was that. If anything, it was as if Chell had simply vanished.

“Come on, kiddo, where are you?” Hizashi worried, his phone in his hands as he checked social media. Even though it was a slight chance, some people did post about illegal quirk usage, and given the stronghead nature that Chell seemed to possess, Hizashi had no doubt that she’d quickly disregard any quirk laws if they inconvenienced her.

As Hizashi checked various social media platforms for his missing ward, an alert from the Hero Network popped up on his phone, detailing a recording of suspicious activity. As much as it pained Hizashi, he knew that he should at least register what the alert was about, rather than trying to find Chell.

As it turns out, those two things were not mutually exclusive.

The alert contained footage of a blue rimmed portal forming on top of the perimeter walls of Tokyo, and a figure shooting up from it, before they landed in a crouch. A figure that Hizashi recognised immediately as Chell.

The alert was asking for any available heroes to investigate the situation, due to the illegal quirk usage as well as the suspicious nature of an individual entering the Wastelands. Why Chell would do such a thing, Hizashi didn’t know, but since the section of wall in question was nearby, it involved someone he was looking for anyway, and he was up and awake, Hizashi decided to respond to it, saying that he was in the area.

Quickly getting changed into his hero costume, Hizashi raced downstairs, turning on the lights in the garage, revealing his pride and joy. With a light blue body, grav-clamp wheels, and the smoothest hydrogen converter you could get for something this small, Hizashi’s personal motorcycle was a sight to see, especially when he raced it down the highways. Affectionately named Loud Cloud after his deceased friend, it allowed Hizashi to make it to any crime scene in record time, giving him a larger response area than if he was on foot. Opening the garage door and leaping on, Hizashi rode down the quiet roads of his neighbourhood, making it to the wall in record time. He raced towards an elevator after parking his cycle, making it to the top of the wall where Chell had been only minutes earlier.

“Now where are you, Chell?” Hizashi wondered aloud, glancing around to try and find the girl. Glancing down at the foot of the wall, Hizashi noticed that the ground had cracked and splintered, as if something had landed on it with great force.

“Gotcha,” he smirked, racing back to the elevator. Riding Loud Cloud to an exclusive exit available only to heroes, Hizashi rode along the wall, quickly making it to where Chell had landed. Flicking on his bike's lights, Hizashi slowly followed the tracks, moving slow enough that he could actually tell where they were. They were fortunate that it had rained recently, leaving the ground soft, allowing for Chell’s implant to leave a clear imprint in the dirt.

All the while that Hizashi followed Chell’s tracks, he was nervous. The Wastelands were dangerous, anyone could tell you that, but at night? Even more so. Every fallen wall provided shadows and cover, hiding places were everywhere if you knew where to look. And those who tended to hide out here usually weren’t the biggest fans of heroes. But rather than fear for his own safety, Hizashi was worried for Chell. Sure, she was strong, he’d seen that already. Most girls her age weren’t able to bend metal with their bare hands. But Chell was in an unknown environment, and it only took one bad hit for her to be in danger.

This fear for her was heightened when Hizashi not only heard a shrill screech, but also the yells of a young girl.

“Shit, Antlions,” Hizashi swore, kicking Loud Cloud into high gear. Racing towards the noise, Hizashi crested a hill, looking down at the battle that was ongoing. Chell was backed against a wall, dark yellow blood covering her arms as she held them up, but the trembles that were visible were either signs of her fear or her exhaustion. Surrounding her in a loose ring were the yellow bodies of Antlion Soldiers, the scouts and common soldiers of an Antlion colony. They were all around 1.5 m in height, and around 1.8 m in length. As a species, the Antlions' legs were arranged oddly, with their back legs set at their front, and vice versa. On their heads, they had no visible eyes, while three mandibles were arranged in a triangular formation on their face. And while they weren’t using them, Hizashi was well aware of the set of wings they held underneath their shells.

Five of their kin lay dead on the ground, their shells cracked and their limbs violently removed. As Hizashi raced down the hill, leaving his bike behind, he started to piece together what had happened. Chell must have wandered into their territory, accidentally drawing their attention with any noise that she had made. They’d clearly surrounded her, and some of the braver one had tried to attack, only to wind up dead from Chell’s enhanced strength. And while they seemed cautious now, Hizashi knew it wouldn’t last long.

As if one que, one of the larger Antlions letting out a piercing hiss, its shell raising to reveal its wings, its companions mirroring it. Hizashi knew they were going to rush her, relying on their numbers to bring Chell down. That was something Hizashi wouldn’t allow.

“BACK OFF!” he yelled, his quirk amplifying his voice more effectively than any microphone could, the support gear he wore around his neck directing the noise forward.

The Antlions each let out a pained screech, scattering into the darkness, their sensitive hearing that they used to navigate making Hizashi’s quirk particularly effective at driving them off.

Confident that they wouldn’t return for an hour at least, Hizashi rushed over to Chell as she collapsed against the wall, the support of the structure being the only thing keeping her standing.

“Chell, there you are,” Hizashi said, using his arms to catch her from slipping. “Why’d you run away?”

Chell’s eyes lazily opened, her gaze wavering and unfocused.

“ Você me encontrou, ” she mumbled, her head lolling onto Hizashi’s shoulder, resting against him. “ Sinto muito por ter fugido, Pai. ”

Hizashi froze, glancing down at Chell as her breathing steadied, passing out from unconsciousness.

‘Did she just call me Dad?’ Hizashi wondered. He didn’t speak Portuguese, even though it was one of the most spoken languages in the world, but given the similarity it had to English, the context, and the tone that Chell used, Hizashi was fairly certain that he knew what she had said.

‘Am I even ready to be a parent?’ he thought as he walked back to his cycle, Chell carried in his arms. ‘I mean, I was fully prepared to be her caretaker and guardian, but a parent is a step up from that, right? I mean, I don’t know the first thing about being a father! It’s not as if I have any experience of my own!’

But as Hizashi looked down at Chell’s sleeping expression as she rested her head against his chest, Hizashi couldn’t help but feel a warmth bloom in his heart.

‘Ah, what the hell,’ he sighed, chuckling to himself. ‘If I let her down now, I’d be no better than my own sperm donor. I’m sure my experiences with Kashu’s brats is good enough anyway. And if I need some pointers, I’m sure there are plenty of books I can get out.’

As Hizashi gently placed Chell on his bike in front of him, ensuring that she was safe within his arms, a solemn promise was made in his mind as he rode back to the walled city.

‘So long as it’s something you want of me, Chell, I promise to be a parent that’s there for you; to be a father that neither of us got to experience. No matter what, I’ll be someone you can rely on to look out for you, as a hero, a teacher, and a father.’

-]l[-

The week passed without anything of importance happening for Hizashi and Chell. Chell had apologised profusely to Hizashi for running away and putting herself in danger, but all Hizashi had asked was why she had done it. Chell revealed her reasoning, being afraid that GLaDOS would try and hurt her by hurting Hizashi, paired with feelings of guilt and not deserving the kindness she had been shown. All of these were flags for Survivors Guilt and Impostor Syndrome, all things that Hizashi had seen before in civilians he had rescued. While Hizashi was busy throughout the day with teaching classes, Chell often accompanied him to U.A. anyway, mainly for Recovery Girl’s rehabilitation tests, but also because she didn’t have anything else to do. Because of this, Hizashi asked one of his colleagues at U.A., Hound Dog, the school’s guidance counselor, to talk with Chell whenever he had a free moment. While they seemed to be making good progress, Hound Dog reminded Hizashi that it might take some time before anything could be properly addressed. At this stage, it was all about Chell feeling comfortable with opening up. Until then, she was apparently content with simply cuddling with Hound Dog, as if he were a large dog. Given the nature of his job, it was something that the counselor had learnt to deal with.

Overall, Chell’s first week in Japan had been fairly mundane. That all came to an end today, however, as Hizashi and Chell were both called to Principal Nezu’s office during lunch.

Chell ate with Hizashi in the teacher’s lounge, mostly due to him being someone that she knew and could communicate with, so it was easy enough for the two of them to make the short journey to the Principal’s office. Stepping inside, Chell and Hizashi noticed Principal Nezu standing on his desk, shaking hands with two individuals before him.

The first was a tan-skinned woman with short, dark brown hair, held back by a headband. Her clothing was fairly simple, consisting of jeans and sneakers on her legs and feet, while she wore a gray hoodie with a leather jacket over it. To Chell, the woman’s attire seemed very practical.

The other figure in the room was a tall, Caucasian male with short, brown hair that was cut close. Unlike his companion, he wore smart clothing, being trousers, dress shoes, as well as a suit and tie, as well as a pair of black-rimmed glasses on his face.

“Ah, Hizashi and Chell Yamada, come in,” Nezu greeted, waving them over. “Allow me to introduce you two to my guests.”

Nezu hopped down from his desk, walking out from behind it to stand in between the two parties, giving the introductions. 

“Mrs. Vance and Dr. Vance, this is Hizashi Yamada, one of our English teachers and the Pro Hero Present Mic, and his daughter, Chell Yamada.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you two,” the woman greeted, offering her hand. “My name is Alyx, but I’m aware that Japanese culture prefers to refer to those you don’t know well by their last name, so please call me whatever you feel most comfortable with.”

“A pleasure to meet you, ma’am,” Hizashi greeted, shaking her hand after Chell. “It’s not every day you meet a pioneer in the field of robotics.”

“Oh, thank you for your praise,” Mrs. Vance smiled, before gesturing to the man next to her. “And this is my husband, Dr. Gordon Vance.”

The tall man gave a nod of his head, his hands raised as he made some gestures with them.

“He says that it's good to meet you as well,” Mrs. Vance translated. “My husband is mute, so I’ll also be acting as his translator in this discussion.”

“Discussion?” Hizashi asked, turning to face Principal Nezu. “What’s this about, sir?”

“That’s to be discussed, Yamada,” Nezu answered, laying out a tea set on a coffee table in the room.

The rodent-like teacher turned to face the ground, gesturing to the couches that faced each other, along with a chair that was Nezu’s.

“Please, everyone, take a seat,” the Principal offered. “We have much to discuss, and I feel nothing prompts the conversation forward like a good cup of tea.”

Yeah, my estimates for humanity’s population following the Combine invasion weren’t only dire, but also EXTREMELY optimistic. What I did was factor in the death rate over twenty years, scale it down because I imagine the Combine would have tech to heal diseases and such for citizens who weren’t part of a resistance, and there’s your number. However, humanity was still reduced to over 600 million in the process. How bad is that, you ask? Well, the last time the world’s population was 600 million was at the start of the 18th century, or the 1700s. Yep, humanity’s population got shot back three hundred years, and that’s with me being VERY optimistic about the population that survived the Seven Hour War. So yeah, big yikes.

Now, an eagle-eyed viewer will be able to notice the differences I’ve made regarding Gordon and Alyx’s attack on the Citadel to try and rescue Eli, and trust me, they aren’t just arbitrary changes so that the story flows better. I mean, it is, but there’s also a lore reason for the changes to the timeline, which will be revealed next chapter.

And we finally had our heartwarming moment with Chell and Hizashi. Yeah, surprising no one, Hizashi is going to be playing a father-figure role in this story, rather than an uncle figure. Instead, that uncle and aunt role will go to Shota and Nemuri. 

Also, shout out to my brother for pointing out some of the flaws in Chell’s movement regarding speed and momentum, as that’s what caused me to change her movement to running up the wall and then kicking off of it.

Anyway, not much more for me to say, so let’s get into the reviews.

Randomguy65, thanks for the review, and trust me, some of Chell’s experiences are going to come into play. Most of these kids don’t know how to use their quirks to their full extent, thanks to Japan’s inane quirk laws. Chell, while having almost zero knowledge, has experience with a clunkier version of her quirk. As for character interactions, I plan to make it amusing.

Atromitos1526, cheers for the review. I’m now trying to image what kind of noise that would be. And yes, Hizashi is best dad, and I stand by that fact. As for the Moon trick, not only do I have some ideas, but I plan for that to be one of her ultimate moves. She wouldn’t be able to use it in the Sports Festival, mainly because 1, it’s during the day, and 2, it’s WAY too dangerous to use in a competition. But don’t worry, that trick will be used again in the future.

Ding ding ding, BloodOrKetchup is the first to get it right, the animation channel I hinted at was Sea Maggie. Let me know if there’s an O.C. you want in the story, and I’ll try and fit them in.

TheGigaGamer75, thanks for the review. I’m glad you liked the soda scene, I put my heart into that one. I kind of channeled some of the frustration and anger I’ve heard in my parents, since both of them went through a similar scenario. And when Gordon saw there was a religion about him, he was speechless.

*crickets chirp*

Okay, anyway, PrimoDegenerato, thanks for the review. I agree, when it comes to someone speaking English, Hizashi is the way to go. That, and I think he’d simply be a better father figure than Shota, no offence intended to our insomniac, but I see him as more of an uncle figure, which will be happening in this fic.

ultima-owner, thanks for the review. As you saw, nukes would be tame compared to what the Combine did to Earth. At least with a nuke, it’s fairly quick, unless you’re on the outskirt, in which case yikes. And I’m glad you noticed the Freed, they are going to have a prominent role in the story, and more on them will be mentioned next chapter, but a true breakdown of their beliefs will be just before the start of U.A., with an O.C. character who will be part of the main group, alongside Chell. 

AnotherChara, thanks for the review. I agree, the U.A. students in the hero course would have more and more hero classes in their later years, but I feel that would be because of their specialisation. I feel that the Business and Support courses would have something similar, while General Studies would be fairly standard. The problem is that each of the students will need their standard subjects, because, at the end of the day, U.A. is still a high school, so their basic education does need to be taught. However, I do like the idea of the older students having more time out in the field, preparing them for when they graduate. 

i_really_should_be_sleeping, thanks for the review. For me, I saw that 9999999 scene as the machine malfunctioning, but that’s just me. As for the music, I actually wasn’t aware of that fact. I always had it that it was simply music they added for the ambiance, other than the Turret Opera at the end of Portal 2, which is so good. 

Schwertmensch (Guest), thanks for the review. I imagine Aperture would have a whole bunch of spare parts laying around. That, and given the sheer vastness of the Aperture facility, I imagine GLaDOS would be able to cannibalise some areas for spare parts and resources. As for Bad Cop and WILSON, I might add them, but I’ll have to play through their games first. I have it in my library, just need to actually do it.

Aerondax, thanks for the review. I agree, it doesn’t make sense for all of the U.A. teachers to rush for the U.S.J., something that was mentioned in another story I’m writing, which ironically is actually at the U.S.J. arc right now. I’ll try to figure out how to work it, and I agree, while it is an interesting world, some aspects of it are just poorly thought out.

123 (Guest), thanks for the review. Some of your ideas aren’t only good, but ones I’ve had myself. GLaDOS, to me at least, would absolutely try and remove the addiction to testing that the main A.I. is forced to experience. As for developing new products, oh boy, just you wait…

And finally, grindy_rust_rustbucket (Guest), thanks for the review. And you were also right, the channel was Sea Maggie. I really like the style that they did for not only GLaDOS’ human form, but also Wheatley’s. And because I’m feeling so generous, you can give an O.C. as well.

And that wraps it up. For your sneak peak, next chapter is called, ‘ Past and Future ,’ and we’ll see how Gordon and Alyx wound up in the 23rd century.

See y’all then…

- Jevm

Chapter Text

He could feel it, tugging in the back of His mind. Hidden away outside of both time and space, He watched as The Free Man struggled against the Combine’s loyal forces inside the Citadel. Many mortal men would have fallen against their onslaught, but The Free Man endured against it. After all, he wouldn’t be The Free Man if he failed here. For what were some transhuman forces when The Free Man had slain the Nihilanth? No, these traitors of their species were mere distractions, a speedbump slowing The Free Man’s progress.

He watched, patiently, as The Free Man tore apart the dark fusion reactor in the Citadel’s peak, the pleas of the Great Traitor being brushed aside like they chaff they were. Orbs of energy were fired at the core of the reactor, the volatile balls of energy tearing away the protective conduits that contained and controlled the Dark Matter. And as the final stabiliser was destroyed, the rift between realities collapsed, the corridor to the Combine’s seat of power vanishing, accompanied by the pitiful screams of the Great Traitor being torn between two worlds, before being silenced.

The ecstatic laughs of joy could be heard from The Free Man’s companion. “We did it!” she cheered, gazing at The Free Man with joy and awe, before glancing over her shoulder, worry beginning to creep into her voice at the growing shrill cry of the reactor. “Come on, Gordon! Maybe we still have-”

She was cut off as the reactor’s limits were finally reached, a surge of energy causing blue lightning to arc out of the machine, followed only a nanosecond behind by a growing ball of fire. Both The Free Man and his companion shielded their faces, a primal instinct trying to save themselves from the danger. But it would not save them. Not unless He intervened.

“Time, Dr Freeman?” He asked aloud, finishing Alyx Vance’s statement with no small amount of amusement. “Is it really that time again?”

He stepped forward, the veil of reality parting before Him as He stepped into that moment of frozen reality, the laws of physics being ignored as He walked on air.

“It seems as if you’ve only just arrived,” He reminisced. “You’ve done a great deal in a small timespan. You’ve done so well, in fact, that I’ve received some interesting offers for your services. Ordinarily I wouldn’t contemplate them, but these are extraordinary times, hm?”

“Rather than offer you the illusion of free choice, I will take the liberty of choosing for you, if and when your time comes round again,” He informed, walking towards the frozen champion.

With but the slightest effort of His mind, both Dr Freeman and Ms Vance were removed from the Citadel tower, reappearing in a void outside of both space and time.

“I do apologize for what must seem to you an arbitrary imposition, Dr Freeman,” He admitted, speaking to the temporally frozen form of the scientist turned resistance symbol. “I trust it will all make sense to you in the course of, well, I’m really not at liberty to say.”

He gave an amused smile, stepping back from the two frozen individuals. “In the meantime, this is where I get off.”

A doorway opened up, and after straightening His tie, making sure His appearance was impeccable as ever, He stepped through, coming face to face with a group of about a dozen very stunned and increasingly nervous Vortigaunts. Rather than the greenish-brown skin tone that their species possessed, these were purple, their mono-red eyes having turned a star-blue.

He knew that they were here, and He knew what they planned to do. In most timelines, He allowed them to do so, to give them a semblance of control over their own destiny. But He, more than anyone else, knew that destiny was inescapable, and this time, He wouldn’t play around.

“Enough,” He ordered, a pulse of power shattering the interference they were attempting. “Go home, your plan will not be allowed to work.”

“This one will not take The One Free Man from the Vortigaunt,” one of the braver Vortigaunts declared. “Nor will this one take the Alyx Vance.”

“Your opinion has no influence on what I shall or shall not do,” He dismissed. “Leave now, while your bodies still have material forms.”

“Even if these one’s efforts lead to these one’s demise, the freed Vortigaunt shall ensure The One Free Man is liberated, Thief in the Void,” another Vortigaunt challenged.

‘Hmm, so this is where Freeman’s cult was formed,’ He pondered, power growing within Him. ‘No matter. Let’s see if we can accelerate the process.’

“Do not mistake my patience for weakness, worshippers of The Free Man,” He warned, His voice booming with power, a ripple of energy emanating from Him, forcing the Vortigaunts back a step. “While I have tolerated your defiance so far, even a being as wise as I has limits.”

The Vortigaunts whispered to each other in their native tongue, fear and terror blooming in their eyes, their violet bodies trembling.

“The Free Man is needed in another time, far ahead,” He explained, drawing back some of His power, enough to calm them, but still enough to remind them of His power. “He shall return, but he shall return to your grandchildren’s grandchildren. Prepare the world for his arrival, spread far and wide the power of The One Free Man, the Chain Breaker, the Saviour of the Freed.”

“And who is this one?” one of the Vortigaunts asked in a challenging tone. “Who shall the Vortigaunts tell who stole The One Free Man from us?”

“The same person who rescued The Free Man twenty years ago,” He answered. “I am He Who Dwells in the Void, the first and last of the High Council, their enforcer, their messenger, and their founder. I value those who struggle against adversity, and loath those who subjugate others and those who lay down and take the cowards route. I am nameless, homeless, but not aimless. My path is determined, my fate set in stone. For my duty is to be a guide, to individuals who earn my respect and attention, guiding them along the path that is theirs, and the human race as a whole, to lead them to a glorious ascension that would make the Great Awakening of the Vortigaunt and your Vortessence look like child's play. That is who you shall say I am.”

“How will the Vortigaunt know when The One Free Man will return to us?” a Vortigaunt asked, though not in defiance or as a challenge, but simply as a question. “Will there be a sign given?”

“Your prophets will be alerted of his rebirth, and they shall be told when his power will awaken, when to have their eyes open to find him,” He said. “But that is not something any here will have to worry about. You will all be dead by the time he returns, either from the coming violence, the impending sickness, or simply the steady march of time.”

The gathered Vortigaunts discussed amongst themselves, some of them occasionally glancing back at Him. He didn’t mind their glances, simply brushing off non-existent dust. One could never be too clean, afterall.

The Vortigaunts’ discussion seemed to have come to an end, one by one each of their forms fading from the plane in between existence. They didn’t offer Him any words, but some bowed their heads in a human-like manner, while others made gestures of praise and warding, something that amused Him greatly. As the last Vortigaunt vanished from the gap in reality, He paused to wonder. After all, this place was outside of time, so He could delay it as long as he wanted.

His actions would certainly accelerate the formation of the faith, that was for certain. He knew they would live to tell about it, even if they likely only had a few years left to live. But it was better this way. If He allowed them to try and stop Him, those that held Him back would have burnt up their life force doing so, such was the price the Vortigaunts paid for such power. But now, the Faith of Freedom, as He knew what it would be called in the years to come, would spread like wildfire over much of the Earth. He knew it wouldn’t be a perfect solution, no option was, but it was the best one He’d tried so far. Much better than that mistake with choosing Ms Vance as Their champion.

‘No, I certainly won’t do that again,’ He thought, experiencing the closest equivalent to fear and discomfort a being like Him could possess. ‘Best to accelerate Humanity’s evolution rather than try to create a single champion.’

Just the thought of the new, unknown events excited Him beyond measure. Despite His powers being beyond the scope of most minds, He wasn’t omniscient nor was He omnipresent. He was, after all, only human, and His powers were only so much. That was why the Combine had managed to capture Him in a previous timeline, after all. Even someone of His power could be taken by surprise, occasionally.

‘Oh, what marvels and horrors will you create, Dr Freeman, Ms Vance?’ He thought to Himself. ‘What will your union bring forth? A simple soldier, fighting on the frontlines? Maybe a general, leading great hordes against their enemies? Or perhaps, something even greater?’

With but the briefest thought, the male and female symbols of the resistance disappeared from His realm, reappearing hundreds of years in the future.

‘Now, how to break this to Eli Vance?’ He wondered, reappearing in the 21st century. ‘Best to avoid what happened last time. Oh, the things I do for humanity…’

-]l[-

Alyx Vance was, in one word, confused. She and Gordon had been at the top of the Citadel after chasing after Dr Breen, that traitorous bastard. Gordon had gone down the elevator to get to the dark fusion reactor, apparently going through a contingent of Combine Troops along the way, all the while Alyx was forced to worry. She wasn’t a fool, she knew that Gordon would be able to pull it off. After all of the stories her father had told her as she grew up, she knew that if anyone could pull it off, it would be Gordon Freeman. But she still hadn’t liked the idea of not being able to fight by his side, of him having to care for her and protect her, simply because she’d be at risk. But seeing him tear apart the reactor, closing the portal to the homeworld of Humanity's oppressors, gave Alyx the hope that her father’s dream could come true, that humanity could push back the Combine forces from their reality. She had no illusions that they could win a war, the Seven Hour War showed that, but simply forcing the Combine out? Maybe they had a chance.

Of course, Alyx wasn’t able to celebrate for long. Because just as she managed to get the doors open, warning Gordon that they needed to run, the rector reached its limit, detonating in a ball of fire. But instead of the force sending her flying, killing her if she was unlucky or burying her in rubble, Alyx found herself standing in a dim room. Looking around, she immediately noticed that Gordon was with her, and he was just as confused as she was.

“Uh, Gordon?” Alyx began, scanning the room. “Do you have any idea what just happened?”

Gordon shook his head, the mute scientist’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

The room was windowless, the only light coming from a single lightbulb in the centre of the room. Dust covered every surface, as if it hadn’t been used in years. Despite the dust, the room was relatively tidy. Chairs had been tucked into their desks, with the surfaces clear, and a bookshelf that lined one of the far walls was ordered neatly, a quick glance showing they were ordered alphabetically.

Other than the bookshelf that lined a wall and the assortment of desks that were placed around the room, the only thing of note was a wall of monitors, a keyboard placed directly underneath them.

Alyx and Gordon had their weapons at the ready, Alyx with her pistol aimed in front of her, while Gordon held up his Gravity Gun, a chair held in the esoteric weapon’s grasp, ready to be fired.

“Where the hell is everyone?” Alyx asked aloud, trying to find any hidden enemies.

“Not here, obviously.”

Alyx and Gordon both spun around to the source of the noise, Alyx firing off three rounds from her pistol, while a thumping noise was heard as Gordon fired the chair held by the Gravity Gun. Their violent response, however, had no effect.

Standing before them was a tall, thin Caucasian male, with short black hair and green eyes. He was dressed in a greyish-blue suit with a purple tie, and held in his right hand was a briefcase. But his appearance wasn’t the most shocking thing about him, far from it. Instead, it was the fact that all three of Alyx’s bullets, as well as Gordon’s chair, were suspended in the air, their movement frozen in place.

“Come now, Dr Freeman, Ms Vance, is this how you greet your saviour?” the mysterious man asked, a knowing smirk on his face, an expression that Alyx couldn’t help but want to punch off.

“Who the hell are you?!” Alyx demanded, her gun trained on the man’s forehead.

“My name isn’t of any significance, but if you must call me something, the people of this era have taken to calling me ‘The Messenger’. But our dear Dr Freeman would know me as a liaison of his former employers.”

“Gordon, what’s he talking about?” Alyx asked, turning to face her companion, watching as Gordon’s face morphed from confusion and shock into anger and hate, his gloved hands tightening around his Gravity Gun.

“Don’t be so angry, Dr Freeman,” the stranger tutted. “After all, if it wasn’t for me, you would have died twice now; first on Xen, and now on Earth.”

Gordon seemed to acknowledge this fact, his eyes looking down, a conflicted expression on his face.

“Okay, Mr Messenger, so you saved our lives,” Alyx began, her gun lowered but still held out, “but we still have a bunch of questions. Why did you save us? Where are we? And how are my bullets being suspended in midair?!”

“Yes, your questions are quite understandable,” the messenger nodded. “And while I am fully capable of answering those questions for you, there is someone else who has wanted you to see them for many years now.”

The messenger walked over to a nearby table, laying his briefcase out on it. He unlocked it, opening it up briefly as he gently grabbed something from within, placing it to the side. Closing the briefcase once more, he picked up the item in his empty hand, a metallic, shiny disk, that he held out to Alyx and Gordon.

“What’s on the disk?” Alyx asked, gently taking hold of what she assumed was a DVD disk.

“A message, as well as the answers to many of your questions,” was her answer.

Alyx looked over to Gordon, tilting her head in a silent question. He paused to think about, before nodding his head, walking over to take a seat in front of the computer screens. Alyx followed after him, finding the port to insert the disk easily enough, a few buttons being pressed here and there, turning on the screens. The still image of an office appeared, the sideways triangle inside a circle displaying the play button.

Alyx’s eyes flicked over to Gordon, who sat next to her with his hands gripping the arms of his chair. His eyes met hers, giving her a small nod of encouragement. Alyx breathed out deeply, pressing the play button.

The video started, the sound of rustling papers able to be heard in the background, accompanied by a trio of light coughs. The odd sound of a footfall then metal on wood could be heard getting closer to the camera, before a figure sat down. Even though he wore different clothing, his face had more wrinkles upon it, and his hair was greyer than she remembered, there was no mistaking the identity of the figure in Alyx’s mind.

“Dad?” she breathed, her eyes widening in shock.

“Ahh,” the older Eli Vance sighed, lowering himself into his chair. “Hmm? Blasted machine, turning on without my say-so. ”

Alyx watched as her father searched for some papers that were out of sight, placed beneath the view of the camera that recorded her now elderly father. After a moment’s search, he gave a satisfied grunt, holding up a sheet of papers.

“ Found you, ” he muttered, before looking directly into the camera. “ Hello, Alyx, Gordon. ”

The older Eli sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he sagged into his chair, seeming to age another five years.

“ I don’t know when you’ll see this, that bastard who took you hasn’t told anyone as far as I’m aware, but I know that you will see this, eventually. While I wish nothing but pain and misery upon that government agent wannabe for taking the two of you from us, he saved your life, twice now in fact, and I know that he’s a man of his word, so at least that’s something.

“ You’ll both have a lot of questions, so I’ll try to answer as many of them that I think you’ll want to know. So, I guess I’ll start with where you left off. You both went to stop Breen, and given the explosion that rocked the Citadel, I’ll assume you both got to him. Not surprising, really. You’re both stubborn as nails; probably why you both got along so well together. So, I guess I’ll start from there. ”

A grin formed on Eli’s face. “ Congratulations, you two! You did it! Whatever it was you did up there, it did more than deal a blow to the Combine; you kicked them right out of our world. ”

“We, we did it?” Alyx gasped, her head turning to face Gordon, a grin growing on her face. Gordon had a smaller but no less joyous smile on his face, and just the sight of it, and the realisation of what had been said, caused Alyx to throw her arms around Gordon, pulling him into a hug.

“Gordon, we did it!” Alyx cheered, laughing and crying into his shoulder, her friend and partner’s arms wrapping around her. The pure shock of it all, the idea that Humanity was no longer under the boot-or-tentacle-or-whatever of the Combine, a concept that Alyx had grown up in, caused her to break down with emotion, half hugging Gordon and using him as a support to keep herself upright. 

“ Okay, I’m going to assume you’ve gotten most of your emotions out of your system, so Alyx, if you could let go of Gordon, I’ll continue. ”

Alyx flinched, pulling herself away from Gordon, unnerved that her father had been able to so accurately guess what her reaction had been.

“ Okay, so, what to explain next? ” her father thought aloud. “ Right, the Combine forces. Now, the destruction of the Citadel really saved Humanity and the Vortigaunts. The destruction of the dark fusion reactor sent out a burst of Dark Energy. Each city that the Combine controlled had a structure similar to the Citadel in City 17, only smaller. These towers helped spread the wave of Dark Energy, destabilising the barrier between our world and the Combine’s, cutting them off from us. This wave of energy also took out the Combine’s synths, so we didn’t have to worry about any Gunships or Striders. However, we still had many of the Combine’s human soldiers to contend with. While some of them surrendered, most of them kept on fighting, either out of desperation, because they were brainwashed, or they were simply more loyal to our oppressors than their own brothers and sisters. It took us four more months before the last of the Civil Protection and Overwatch agents were driven out of every city into the Wastelands and Outlands. However, while this was something to be celebrated, once one problem was solved, two more showed up.

“ Humanity was leaderless, since the Combine had made sure to execute every politician and member of government in every city and country, simply to prevent any uprisings. Fortunately, we were connected, thanks to the railways that still linked every city. Militias formed in most cities, doing their best to stop any rioting or looting that people thought they could get away with. And thanks to the pulse of Dark Energy taking down the Suppression Field, many people began, uh, what was it Isaac said? Oh, right, ‘doing their part for the revival of the species’.

“ For the most part, Humanity and the Vortigaunts managed to piece something together from the rubble of our old society. However, it was about a year after Victory Day, what people are calling the destruction of the Citadel, when worrying news began to spread. An international community had formed, just like the League of Nations and the United Nations of the past, called the World Council, with every nation or city state having their place. And from every single one of them, their governing bodies were reporting Human children being born with abnormalities. Moveable hair, hardened skin, enhanced senses, sharpened teeth, blue blood; real life superpowers, straight out of a comic book. They weren’t flashy enough to do much, and were easy enough to hide or explain away, but their very existence was worrying. The Dark Energy that had swept across the planet had created mutations in Humanity’s biology; not enough to affect those who had been there, but enough for there to be a chance for their children to be affected. We decided to keep the existence of these powers underwraps for as long as possible, but this lasted all of fifteen years.

“ It all unravelled in Qingdao, a fairly large city in China. It was there in a hospital that a child was born with the ability to emit a bright light from his skin. He became an international sensation overnight, and there was no way for us to cover it up. It was then decided that the effort of trying to conceal the existence of those born with what was termed as ‘Meta Abilities’ was simply too much of a hassle to continue, especially as more and more reports were coming in with people being born with abilities or mutations, or children who developed Meta Abilities later on. ”

Alyx was stunned, and given his wide eyes, Gordon was as well. Super powers, real life super powers, were a thing. Alyx felt like she shouldn’t have been too surprised by it; after all, Earth was invaded and conquered by an extra-dimensional empire, and the Vortigaunts had their electrical powers, but still!

“ That child’s birth was fourteen years ago, ” Eli revealed, slumping into his chair once more. “ An assassin killed the Child of Light, as his followers called him, five years ago. The child’s cult following has become more and more structured, more and more religious, and it's already in the hundreds of millions. Those who fear those with Meta Abilities attack them in the streets, while those with Meta Abilities respond in kind. The police forces are overwhelmed, and vigilantes have appeared all over the world, leading to more violence in the streets. The world has become dangerous, Alyx, in a different manner to the danger of the Combine. This is more chaotic, primal, compared to the Combine’s logical and mechanical danger. And the worst part is, I know I won’t be there to look after you. You can probably tell by now that I’m not the spring chicken I once was. The doctors think I won’t make it to see the next decade. It’s frightening, to be honest. Not the idea of death, I’ve made my peace with it long ago. But the idea that you’ll emerge one day, years from now, maybe centuries, in this new, alien world, even if your own people walk its streets. I can only hope that bastard keeps his end of the deal. Knowing him, though, he’s probably standing behind you and smirking, the smug bastard. ”

Alyx looked over her shoulder, seeing that the stranger was indeed standing behind her and Gordon, an amused look on his face.

“ There’s so much I haven’t told you, my dear, ” Eli continued. “ Too much to put onto one disk. I’m retired now, no longer a leader of men. So I’ve spent the remainder of my days imparting as much information as possible for you and Gordon to learn from. And to keep them safe, I’ve left them all where we called home. That is where I’ve left the rest of my recordings. This final disk, however, is going to be given to you when you return. Now, before I finish, there are two things I should say. First, Dog missed you. ”

Alyx gasped, her hands coming up to cover her mouth. Memories of her faithful mechanical friend and companion raced through her mind, a creation of her father with the sole directive of keeping her safe.

“ He’s safe and sound, don’t you worry. I’ve placed him with the rest of my recordings. I’ve continued to upgrade him over the years; helps that I don’t have to use salvaged or scavenged parts anymore, I can get top of the line materials now. I’ve put him into hibernation, where he’ll wait for you to wake him up. Only you have the key, Alyx; I trust you’ll know how to do it. Now, for my second point; Gordon, I want you to listen close to what I have to say. ”

Beside her, Alyx saw Gordon lean in closer, focusing on every word of his old colleague and friend. 

“ I’m not blind to the connection you and my daughter share. It was strange, initially, to see someone who was my colleague getting close to my daughter. But you’re both around the same age, thanks to Gordon being frozen in time, so I quickly got over it. It helped that I saw how well you two worked together. So this is my final request to you, my friend: look after my daughter, and treat her well. I’m sure that if things had gone differently, I’d be able to give you my approval in person, but you’ll have to make do with this recording. ”

Alyx blushed, heat rushing to her cheeks as she listened to her father’s words. While she would be the first to admit that Gordon was handsome, the thought of a relationship had never really been entertained, she was simply too busy fighting off the Combine. Nervously looking over to see Gordon’s reaction, she saw his cheeks were equally flushed, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. For reasons Alyx couldn’t explain, it made her glad she wasn’t the only one having a reaction to her father’s words.

“Remember, Alyx, that you’ve made me more proud than you could possibly imagine,” Eli confessed with a sad smile. “I’m so fortunate to call you my daughter. I love you more than anything. Goodbye.”

The recording ended, finishing on a frame of Eli pressing a key below the computer. The weight of the message crashed down on Alyx, tears welling in her eyes as sobs wracked her chest. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her, the familiar form of the HEV suit comforting as Alyx leaned into Gordon, who simply let her cry into his shoulder. The idea that she’d never see her father again, that he had long since died, and she hadn’t been there for him, crushed her. No words could describe her pain, no concept could explain her sorrow. So she could only weep.

She remained like that for an unknown time, crying until she had no tears left, her body shaking from dry sobs. And all the while, Gordon held onto her, acting as a rock for her to cling to.

“Okay, I think I’m fine,” Alyx sniffled, rubbing her red, sore eyes. “We’re not doing anything by sitting here and feeling sorry.”

The scratching of pencil on paper could be heard, prompting Alyx to look over, watching Gordon as he wrote a message on a piece of paper, holding it up to her.

“Do you know where your father would have hidden the recordings and Dog?” it asked.

“He said he placed them where we called home,” Alyx thought to herself. “Would he have placed them in the old Black Mesa facility? But wouldn’t that be too dangerous, since it was ground zero for the Resonance Cascade?”

“Why would it be at Black Mesa?” Gordon wrote.

“Because that’s where I was born,” Alyx explained. 

“But is that where you call home?”

“Well-” Alyx began, only to half mid sentence, her brows furrowing in thought. “Actually, I think you’re onto something. Even though I was born in the Black Mesa facility, Dad raised me in Black Mesa East, in his laboratory back in City 17. But how do we get there?”

“I believe I will be able to help with that,” the stranger answered. Casually raising his hand, the thin man snapped his fingers, reality instantly shifting around them. Where they had once been in a dusty underground room, Alyx and Gordon found themselves in an all familiar location, that being Eli Vance’s lab.

“Okay, first you can stop bullets midair, and now you can teleport?!” Alyx all but yelled, turning to face down the still arrogant looking stranger. “I want answers! How the hell are you doing that?!”

“Didn’t you listen to what Dr Vance said?” the man rhetorically asked, raising an eyebrow. “I believe it was along the lines of Humans developing abilities that would previously be considered the work of fiction?”

“Yeah, but that was for people born after Gordon and I brought down the Citadel!” Alyx yelled. “If you are the person who trapped Gordon for twenty years, then how do you have your powers?! Are you even a Human?!”

“I am as Human as either of you,” the man explained. “As for my powers, given that it grants me control over time and space, why do you think I am only limited to freezing or forwarding time?”

Alyx and Gordon shared a shocked expression, each looking at the other to see if they had both begun to realise what was being implied.

“You mean, you can travel BACK in time?” Alyx hesitantly asked, Gordon nodding next to her.

“Forwards, backwards, off on different paths,” the man elaborated. “Unfortunately, my power doesn’t allow me to traverse dimensions, but I’m sure Dr Freeman is more than glad for the fact that Xen is considered a borderworld, and thus is just within reach of my powers.”

“But we aren’t here to discuss the limits of my near limitless power,” the man continued, gesturing to a closed doorway. “Dr Vance was quite insistent that you’d know where to look, and so you did. Now, he expects you to know the password to the door.”

Alyx stepped forward, giving the closed and locked door a scrutinous look. The lock was a simple number code, the kind that allowed for a four digit code to be entered.

“Given the ten digits I can enter as well as the four available spaces, there are ten thousand possible answers,” Alyx muttered to herself. “And that’s assuming Dad wouldn’t place countermeasures to stop someone trying to brute force their way through. No, he said that I’d know the key, so it has to be something significant.”

Reaching her hand out, Alyx pressed her finger onto the rubber keys, entering what she was certain was the password: 1-2-5-4. December 5th, 2004; the day of her birth.

The keypad gave a small chime, followed by the thump of an unlocking mechanism. The hiss of hydraulics was heard as the door slowly swung open, Alyx stepping out of the way, watching as the locked room was exposed. A large computer screen could be seen at a desk, and on either side of it were stacks of disk cases, each of them labelled on a white background. The room seemed to feature a mix of an open space kitchen as well as a living room, with a series of countertops and appliances taking up one corner of the room, a set of couches and armchairs faced a television screen on an opposing end of the room, and a dining table, complete with matching chairs, was positioned slightly in the middle. In the final, unoccupied corner of the room, however, was the slumped metallic form of Dog. Where his body had once been made out of scrap metal and salvaged parts, now was shiny, clean, and symmetrical. But despite these changes, Alyx’s faithful companion had remained the same general shape, only with newer parts. No lights flashed across his body, nor the slight movements that her father had programmed into the mechanical creature to make him more life-like. And despite her best attempts, the resemblance of a corpse wormed its way into Alyx’s mind.

“Congratulations,” the stranger complimented, following Alyx and Gordon into the room. “You have figured out where Dr Vance’s repository of knowledge was, as well as the code to unlock the entrance to it, all without failing even once. Dr Vance boasted that you’d be able to do it, and I see that his words were more than hollow confidence.”

“So is this it?” Alyx asked. “This the end of your guided tour?”

“Not quite,” the man said, placing his briefcase down on the dining table. “There are still four things I have to address. First, this room is connected to a series of rooms that will be able to support your stay here. Think of it as a place to relax and recuperate after all of your trials and ordeals. There is enough food to last you half a year, internet connectivity for your own research on the state of the world, and a reliable source of clean drinking water. Additionally, there are accommodations as well as toiletry facilities for your personal use.”

“Second, I have taken the liberty of creating new IDs for the both of you, given my assumption you’ll both want to remain members of society,” he explained, placing a collection of papers and ID cards in neat piles next to his briefcase. “I have created birth certificates, passports, drivers licenses, and medical documents. Obviously some changes had to be made, but fortunately, given the timespan as well as the rampant loss of information that has occurred since your departure, no one will be able to tell the difference.”

“What kind of changes?” Alyx asked, her and Gordon walking over to look at their new IDs.

“Oh, nothing major,” the man said. “Well, for you at least, Ms Vance. I’m afraid I had to make some changes to your details, Dr Freeman, or should I say, Dr Gordon Fremen.”

“Now, I’ll request that the both of you stand in front of me,” the man requested, stopping Alyx and Gordon before they could reach their documents. “Given the current state of the world, I thought it prudent to ensure the both of you fit into it seamlessly.”

Alyx and Gordon paused in front of the man, exchanging wary glances between each other.

“So, you just want us to stand here?” Alyx asked, raising an eyebrow as she placed a hand on her hip. “Not gonna lie, buddy, but I don’t see how this will help.”

“You’ll see soon enough,” the man cryptically answered. With a wave of his hands, two things occurred: first, Gordon’s Gravity Gun was ripped from his hands, hovering in midair in front of the stranger. Second, space seemed to briefly warp above the table where the man had placed his briefcase, before a pair of familiar gloves appeared, floating in the air alongside the Gravity Gun.

“Are those my Gravity Gloves?” Alyx asked. “I thought the Combine found them when they raided a place I was hiding out in.”

“Had it not been for my intervention, the Combine’s forces would have found them,” the man answered. “Now, if you could both stand still, this will be over in but a moment.”

Before Alyx could ask what he meant, the man stretched out his hands towards Alyx and Gordon. Feeling an odd sensation on her hands, Alyx looked down, only to gasp in shock and confusion as her gloves seemed to rot away, falling off her hands in a stringy, piecemeal fashion. To her side, Alyx heard a cracking sound and the shuffling of boots, and with a quick glance saw that the HEV armour that Gordon always wore was cracking apart, chunks of the armour rusting away, an undershirt hidden underneath also degrading at an alarming speed, exposing Gordon’s bare chest.

“Ah, there we are,” the stranger said, seeming to be speaking to himself. “Now for the final touches.”

Both of the gravity-manipulating objects were violently ripped apart by an unseen force, components and wires being tossed to the side, until all that remained suspended in the air were three Xenium crystals; the larger one, about the length of her hand, came from the Gravity Gun, and two smaller crystals, each the size of a coin, coming from the Gravity Gloves.

Alyx and Gordon stared at their ruined tools for only a moment, before movement caught their attention. Moving faster than they were able to react, the crystals surged forward, the larger one slamming into Gordon’s torso, while the smaller two each burrowed their way into one of Alyx’s hands. Immediately, Alyx felt a searing pain spread through her body, as if liquid nitrogen and molten stone were both being pumped directly into her veins. She vaguely felt her body collide with the floor as she collapsed, but it was all secondary to the overwhelming pain she felt. She heard a terrible wailing noise, only for the soreness of her throat indicating that the noise was her own screams.

“I know it hurts, but you’ll thank me in the end,” the man, no, the bastard, remarked, looming over Alyx with his briefcase in hand, his voice somehow cutting through the pain. “Now, I did promise that there were four things I still needed to mention, so here is the fourth and final: the date today is the 23rd of May, 2229. Congratulations, you have travelled exactly two hundred years into the future.”

Having said his piece, he stepped away, a white doorway-shaped void in space appearing out of thin air, which the being stepped through, closing behind him, leaving Alyx and Gordon to writhe in agony. Alyx rolled herself over, pushing through the pain to at least look at Gordon, to see the pain they shared. His expression was one of shock, his mouth open in a silent scream, his nonexistent vocal cords preventing him from making a sound, the only noise coming from him being laboured, deep gasps. Alyx reached out her hand, firmly holding tight onto Gordon’s nearest hand, ignoring the spike of pain that shot through her as her hand touched his. Gordon’s eyes rolled over towards her, understanding showing through the pain that clouded his eyes, his hand squeezing hers back. They were both in pain, and the contact of their skin only heightened it, but that same point of contact gave them the slightest amount of comfort.

Alyx lay next to Gordon for what felt like hours, her screams quickly becoming whimpers of pain as her throat was ripped raw from her screams. Finally, when the pain in her body had subsided into a dull ache, concentrated around her hands, Alyx sat herself up, rubbing her throat.

“He could have given us a warning at least,” she rasped, desperately trying to make light of their situation. “Hey, Gordon, you alright?”

Gordon lay on his back, the rising and falling of his chest deep and heavy as his eyes were screwed shut, his face scrunched in pain. He raised a shaky hand, flashing her a thumbs up, before holding out all of his fingers in a flat palm.

“You’re okay, but you need a minute?” Alyx guessed, with Gordon nodding his head in confirmation.

Alyx pushed herself onto wobbly legs, her hand shooting out to grasp the edge of the dining table to support herself, slowly shuffling over to a nearby sink. Reaching into a handful of cupboards, Alyx searched around until she found what she was looking for; a collection of glasses. They weren’t fancy or stylised, like the ones she’d seen in books occasionally, but all they needed to do was do their job, and in this case, that was providing Alyx with a much needed glass of water.

Fiddling with the tap, Alyx managed to get some cold water running, quickly grabbing and filling up one of the glasses. Reaching back up with a still shaky hand, Alyx drained the glass, placing it back underneath the still running water for a refill, refilling it, and draining it yet again. She repeated this four more times, until her stomach felt like it was going to burst, her throat didn’t feel like it was on fire, and her tongue no longer felt like sandpaper.

Placing the glass back underneath the water for a seventh time, Alyx this time didn’t drink it, instead slowly and carefully walking over to where Gordon still lay on the ground next to the dining table. Holding onto the table with one hand to support her, Alyx lowered herself onto the ground, gently placing the glass down, before not-so-gently plonking down herself.

“Drink it,” she said, moving the glass next to Gordon. “Trust me, you’ll need it.”

Gordon’s bleary eyes opened, locking first onto Alyx’s concerned face, and then down to the glass that was at eye level. He huffed, the burst of air being the closest he could make for a noise, before straining himself as he pushed himself up with his elbows.

“Easy, easy, you’ve got it,” Alyx murmured, reaching out and helping him up, letting him go when she was sure he’d be stable. She kept a careful eye on him as Gordon greedily drank from his glass, water trickling down his lips as it spilled over. Having drained all of the water, Gordon gave a sigh of relief, placing the glass down on the floor before shuffling around, leaning his back against a leg of the table. Alyx shuffled over herself, leaning against Gordon’s shoulder, the cracked and ruined armour a strange comfort.

Neither said a word, well, not that Gordon would have been able to anyway, but both Alyx and Gordon were content to simply stay as they were. 

As she sat there on the cold floor, thoughts raced through Alyx’s head. Two hundred years. Two centuries. Over seventy-three thousand days. The thought staggered her. Everyone she knew from before was long gone, their children long gone, maybe even their grandchildren long gone. The thought stunned her. Even if Humanity was still around, Alyx was truly alone, the last of her generation.

‘No, not the last,’ Alyx reminded herself, glancing to the side, seeing Gordon simply staring off into space. ‘I wonder if this is how he felt. All of the people he knew, all of his friends, they’re suddenly twenty years older, but he’s remained the same.’

A faint rustling noise caught Alyx’s attention, coming from Gordon’s unoccupied side. Glancing over, Alyx saw Gordon writing in a patch of undisturbed dust. He glanced over, flinching slightly as he realised Alyx had been looking his way already, before nodding his head towards the writing.

Alyx leaned over him, reading the words, “He’s an arse.”

“I think he’s a bit more than an arse, Gordon,” Alyx giggled, leaning her head against Gordon’s. “He’s a bastard, no question.”

A comfortable silence fell over the two of them once more, each simply leaning into each other, both taking support and supporting the other. As Alyx idly sat there, her eyes wandered over the room, eventually settling on the deactivated body of Dog.

“Come on, Gordon, let’s welcome a new member to the ‘Survivors of the 21st Century’ club,” Alyx said, groaning as she got to her feet. Gordon was quick to follow her, pushing himself up, his arms shooting out to support Alyx as she stumbled.

Working in tandem, the pair slowly made their way over, ignoring their screaming, aching bodies as they moved. Alyx slumped down to her knees in front of Dog, properly taking in her companions still form.

‘He’s not dead,’ she repeated in her mind, ‘just deactivated. I can wake him up. He’s not dead.’

Looking over the changed yet still familiar form, Alyx’s eyes spied a change that wasn’t present before. Located in the top of his head, there was a small, rectangular hole. Had it been anyone else, or someone skilled giving a cursory glance, they would have missed it, but Alyx immediately noticed the abnormality.

“Only I have the key,” Alyx muttered, her brows furrowed in thought. Without even realising it, Alyx felt her hands fiddling with her mother’s necklace, the black metal box that was the only thing she had left of her mother. Other than the single photo that her dad had managed to keep, this was all she had. No memories, no songs that she remembered, simply her mother’s necklace.

Reaching around to the back of her neck, Alyx felt around for the clasps, unhooking it and holding the unfastened necklace in front of her, held at eye level.

She felt Gordon place a hand on her shoulder, giving her a look as she turned to him, tilting his head in question, his eyes flicking to her necklace.

“I’m sure, Gordon,” Alyx nodded, pulling the box off the chain, holding it next to the cavity in Dog’s head as she lined them up; they were a perfect match.

“Only I have the key,” Alyx repeated, before gently lowering the box into the hole, lightly pushing it down once it was in. It slid in perfectly, the gaps on the sides all but disappearing. And all the while, Alyx watched, hoping to see some sign of her oldest friend coming back to her.

She waited, and waited, holding her breath and waiting. Then, with but the smallest light flickering on, her hope was answered.

Where one light had turned on, suddenly it was two, then five, then a jolt of movement ran through Dog’s mechanical body. The digits on his paws twitched, his arms shifting, and body moving, active, alive.

“Dog?” Alyx breathed, fearing that if she was too loud, it would all be reversed, like a flickering flame being snuffed out by a soft breath.

But the flame didn’t die, instead it burnt all the brighter. Now Dog’s back legs were twitching, the right leg stretching out, then returning, quickly being replaced with the left leg stretching out. Finally, causing joy to soar in Alyx’s heart, Dog’s single eye turned on, the red light instantly focusing on her. And with a synthesised sound, came what Alyx considered in that moment to be the most beautiful noise.

Bark!

Okay, ‘pologies for the late upload, assignments have begun at Uni, so I’ve been really busy.

This chapter was also meant to be a bit longer, but I needed to get it out and there wasn’t time, and the chapter was decently sized anyway, so I’ve shuffled some things around. We also got the answer to what many of you were wondering, that being, “How are Gordon and Alyx from Half-Life, which takes place in the early 21st Century, in MHA, which takes place in the 23rd Century?!” Time travel, folks, time travel. So yes, the G-Man is up to his usual antics of plucking the strings, and decided to go for a different route this time. He basically amped the destruction of the Citadel, destabilising reality around our universe, preventing the Combine from accessing it. This also means that in this universe, Half-Life 2 Episode 1 & 2 happened in a previous timeline, Half-Life: Alyx was its own timeline, and the G-Man is going through different iterations for an, as of right now, unknown reason, for not yet revealed individuals.

Also, in case there’s anyone reading who didn’t connect the dots, yes, in my version of canon, the G-Man is human, and was born with abilities, call them what you like. In fact, even in the time of MHA with Class 1-A, he hasn’t even been born yet, and won’t be for a while.

As for why he implanted the Xenium crystals in Alyx and Gordon, I’m sure some people will be able to correctly guess why, as well as what it will cause. And yes, Dog got some upgrades, the bestest boi was in need of some shiny chrome.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings, time for some reviews.

TheGigaGamer75, cheers for the review. Regarding your ideas, the first one is actually similar to what I plan to do. Yes, there isn’t a ceiling for Chell to utilise, but I have an idea for how she can cheese it. As for you second idea, congratulations, you’ve given me an epic idea, and it caused me to organise the singles fights for the Sports Festival. I now know who is fighting who, and I have it set in stone who the final two combatants are. However, I’m still tossing up who will win, as either option has it benefits. Guess if I don’t know who will win, no one will! Mwahahaha!

the_Blue_M00n, thanks for the review. For your three questions, the first one was answered in this chapter that I’ve taken control of the wheel and taken us down a new path, Episode 1 & 2 are events that happened in a previous timeline, still canon, but didn’t happen this time around. This means that Eli survived, the Combine were driven off MUCH earlier than it would have, and a bunch of Combine loyalists might still be out there, even centuries into the future (and that’s an idea for a villain/villain organisation). For the second question, maybe? I’ll need to play Opposing Force (I know, fake Half-Life fan right here), but it’s a possibility. Adrien Shepherd is the kind of person that the G-Man values, due to his determination and grit. Not sure when or how, but he might appear. As for the G-Man, he’ll be making a handful of appearances, and yes, one of his employers/colleagues will be appearing. If you’re confused by the power dynamic that he hinted at, think of Whis from Dragon Ball Super, in the sense that he is their messenger and employee, but he is also one of the most powerful. And for your third question, again, maybe, I’ll have to see if it can fit in anywhere that feels right to me.

i_really_should_be_sleeping, thanks for the review. I have no idea why I forgot about the Moon being able to be out during the day, and this prompted me to do a quick google search trying to understand why it is. Also, don’t worry, I’m fully aware that your comments are constructive. Believe me, I’ve seen comments that have nothing to add, and they are some of the most irritating ones to read.

Ste4m3dReader, thanks for the review, and I’m glad you loved the Dadzashi moment. As for your comment, that's actually how I'm planning to have it, Shinso insulting her, claiming she only got into the hero course because of her heroic quirk and because her dad is a teacher, while also claiming that she got her implants thanks to, "Daddy's money", completely unaware that they were forced upon her. So yeah, Chell isn't going to be speaking when delivering her smackdown upon him.

Speaking of Dadzashi, Atromitos1526, thanks for the review. And yeah, Chell’s still got a bit of baggage that she’ll be dealing with.

Schwertmensch (Guest), cheers for the review, and as you can see, it was G-Man being up to his old tricks. As for the Borealis, I might add it in, maybe? I don’t know, I’ll have to come up with something. Maybe a race to see who can get to it first.

StarWanderer's Writing, thanks for the review. The G-Man will definitely be making more appearances, beyond this chapter and next chapter, even though people won’t refer to him as ‘G-Man’, since that’s only his name amongst the fans and in the files of the game. As for him requiring Gordon’s services, all I’ll say is that the G-Man’s attention has moved on, as Gordon has fulfilled his role. After all, why focus on the small fish, when there are bigger catches to be had…

ultima-owner, cheers for the review. Yeah, honestly Gordon Freeman must be a natural when it comes to weapons of all kinds. He’s able to not only use both civilian and military firearms with ease, but he’s also able to use extra-dimensional weapons with ease! Man’s crazy…

PrimoDegenerato, thanks for the clarification, maybe I’ll incorporate that as a variant of her move, who knows?

TrueEnder, cheers for the review, and your question has been answered.

1321 (Guest), thanks for the review, and while an amusing idea, the humanoid turrets won’t be making an appearance, only certain aspects of Sea Maggie’s work.

grindy_rust_rustbucket (Guest), thanks for the review. As one of the two people who correctly guessed it was Sea Maggie, I can certainly do that. I was chuckling as I read your review, already trying to imagine someone doing this. To make it even funnier, if you’re fine with it, would be the fact that she’s not wrong! Everyone thinks she’s crazy and mad, but all along she’s right on the money, regardless of how strange it is.

BloodOrKetchup, thanks for the review. As the original person to guess it was Sea Maggie, absolutely. To be honest, I’ve had an amazing idea with your character concept, and I’ve come up with a person who has a mysterious reputation in the world. People refer to him as the Cyclops, who is followed by a flock of Stymphalian birds. I hope you enjoy his depiction when he’s introduced, he’ll appear after the Sports Festival, so during the intern arc.

Okay, that’s all from me. For your sneak peek, next chapter is called, ‘ A New Life,’ and it’ll have a few timeskips. By my estimates, there should only be a few chapters before we get to the Entrance Exam, so look forward to that.

Until then…

- Jevm

Chapter Text

If someone were to ask him with assurance of full privacy, there were a few terms Hizashi would use to describe Principal Nezu. His boss was sadistic, arrogant, and prideful to no end. He couldn’t blame him, given his vastly superior intelligence and the suffering that the H.P.S.C. had put him through. However, Principal Nezu was also wise, kind to children, had a good sense of humour, paid well, and had similar views to Hizashi, Shota, and Nemuri about quirk usage. After all, he was the only one who would employ Hizashi thanks to his rather outspoken views on the quirk restriction laws. 

However, above all else, Principal Nezu was unmatched when it came to brewing tea.

“Principal Nezu, this tea is incredible,” Alyx complimented, gently placing her cup down on her saucer. “Usually I’m more of a coffee girl, but this tea is making me wonder if I should change my mind.”

“Your compliment is greatly appreciated,” Nezu beamed, sipping from his own cup. “I find that my superior intellect makes it a trivial task to brew the perfect tea. After all, knowing just when to make the next move is half the battle.”

Nezu let out a content sigh, lightly placing his cup down before looking around at everyone gathered. “Now then, as much as I’d love nothing more than to sit here enjoying cup after cup, I suppose we had better get down to what I called you all here for.”

“And that is, sir?” Hizashi asked.

“Why, to verify parts of young Chell’s story,” Nezu explained, turning to face the Vance couple. “See, Chell here claims to have been a captive of Aperture Science, and given that you both have published papers on the organisations of old, I thought that you both may be able to assist us in learning about this organisation.”

“And you can’t take her word for it?” Alyx asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, see, that’s where the issue lies,” Nezu nodded. “Chell doesn’t have any record that I have been able to find over the past week she has been in our care. Additionally, she claims to have been placed in suspended animation for long periods of time, and thus is unfamiliar with our world. Our initial theory was that she may have been from another dimension, but we are currently entertaining another theory.”

“And that is?”

“Time travel.”

Alyx and Gordon Vance both glanced at each other with shocked expressions. Hizashi couldn’t blame them. After all, time travel was such a strange, sci-fi concept, even in a world with superpowered humans and aliens that had dominated the natural ecosystem for centuries.

“Principal Nezu, you must understand how strange this sounds,” Alyx admitted. “Time travel is something that has never been achieved with technology, only being a hypothetical. If you were to travel fast enough, you’d experience something akin to time travel, but that kind of speed is impossible to create.”

“Humour me,” Nezu grinned. “Can you give us a brief overview of Aperture Science?”

Alyx glanced at her husband, the man hesitating before he nodded, signing something to her.

“Aperture Science wasn’t a highly successful company, so the few sources we have about them are limited,” Alyx translated. “We know they started out as a contractor to the military of what was the United States, but it’s still not clear what they did. However, they quickly changed into the area of technological innovation, and had mixed success. While the files that exist detail that they mastered portal technology, they were unable to receive major funding, as unlike their rival company, Black Mesa, they did not have military backers.”

“It sounds as if they could have done a lot of humanity,” Nezu mused, only for Dr Gordon Vance to vigorously shake his head, signing to his wife.

“Apparently, Aperture Science was obsessed with inventing, rather than perfecting what they had designed. Additionally, in the company’s twilight years, they engaged in incredibly unethical testing, like recruiting the homeless or destitute, simply because they were cheap and expendable.”

Beside him, Hizashi saw Chell flinch at the mention. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, the contact causing her to relax and lean into his side.

“However, while they may have been many years ahead of their competitors, such as in regards to hard-light platforms or advanced robotics and machinery, Aperture Science was never reported to have discovered time travel technology,” Alyx continued. “Gordon and I find it incredibly unlikely that Miss Chell is from the past, if Aperture Science was the cause.”

“Oh but they were,” interrupted a calm, raspy voice. Everyone in the room looked over in shock, seeing a stranger sitting behind Principal Nezu’s desk. He was Caucasian, with black hair, green eyes, and wore a gray suit. He was calmly sipping from a cup that had very much not been on the Principal’s desk a moment ago. “Ah, this is some good tea. My compliments.”

“Who the hell are you?!” Hizashi yelled, leaping to his feet and standing in front of Chell. “How did you get in here?!”

While Hizashi’s reaction had been a mix of surprise, anger, confusion, and concern, the Vances’ reactions were only anger.

“The hell are you doing here?!” Alyx angrily demanded, hand going to her side, grasping what Hizashi assumed as a handgun underneath her clothing. To her side, her husband had reached out his hand, an audible pulse of energy sounding out as the couch he and his wife had been sitting on was telekinetically shot to him, hovering in front of his outstretched hands.

“Ah, Alyx Vance and Gordon Fremen, sorry, Vance now, isn’t it? I must congratulate you on your marriage. I would have attended the ceremony, but I’m sure that wouldn’t have been appreciated,” the man smirked, idly stirring his drink.

“Seventeen years you left us alone, seventeen years without you meddling in our lives,” Alyx spat, venom coating every word. “Why now?! Why here?! Are you here for Eli?!”

“My my, that is a handful of questions, with answers you may be surprised by,” the stranger humorously answered. He turned his gaze towards Hizashi, his eyes sweeping across him, then to Nezu, before landing on Chell.

“Hey, watch your gaze, buddy,” Hizashi warned, taking a deep breath.

“Oh, do not be concerned, Hizashi Yamada, I have no interest in your foster daughter,” the man explained, placing his cup down and raising his hands in surrender. “In fact, I’m here for the same reason Principal Nezu called in Dr and Mrs Vance; he has questions, and I have answers.”

The room fell silent, a tense standoff occurring.

“What do you mean?” Nezu tentatively asked. Hizashi glanced over, no small amount of shock filling his mind as he managed to place the emotion that filled Principal Nezu’s voice, one that Hizashi had never feared from the chimera; fear and uncertainty.

“You wish to clear the air of Chell’s origins,” the stranger elaborated, standing up from behind the desk. “Is she an extradimensional, someone from a world similar yet different to your own, or is she from your distant past? While it may be obvious to your dear guests now, Chell is from many years in the past, the 21st century to be precise.”

“You scheming bastard,” Alyx swore, her jaw clenching. “You stole her from her time, didn’t you?!”

“What a harsh accusation to place at my feet, my dear,” the man said, faux hurt thick in his voice. “After all of the protection I have provided young Eli, I would hope I’ve regained some level of trust.”

“Stay away from my family,” Alyx warned. “You took my father from me. I will not allow you to take my son.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about,” the man smiled, though there was little warmth in it, more like smiling at a particularly interesting looking stone. “Contrary to you and your husband’s belief, I no longer have much interest in either of you. You have served my employers well, but you have fulfilled your duties.”

The man turned, leveling an amused look at Chell. “And contrary to popular belief, I am not responsible for every misfortune. After all, Chell was indeed sent to the future by technology designed by Aperture Science, not by my own intervention.”

“How?” Chell asked, speaking up for the first time since stepping in the Principal’s office. “Aperture never focused on time travel. Mr Johnson never mentioned any progress or breakthroughs about it.”

“Very astute of you, child,” the man nodded. “Indeed, while you have been sent to the future by Aperture Science technology, that was never the intended purpose of said technology. What they invented was assumed to be a one-way portal to another dimension, simply because all signals were lost when they went through. Nothing more was able to be improved, so it was deemed complete yet undesirable, and left abandoned in some store room. Of course, we all know now that isn’t the case, and instead of sending someone into another reality, it sends them into the future. Two hundred years into the future, to be precise.”

Hizashi should have been glad that they had an answer, glad that the confusion on Chell’s origins had been cleared. But he knew that this was the precise answer that Chell feared. She was in her home dimension, and there may still be those who wished her harm.

Just as he feared, Chell began to hyperventilate, her pupils dilating as adrenaline flooded her brain. Fearing she’d do something dangerous, Hizashi pulled her in close, wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace, one that she desperately returned. Hizashi was sure he’d find his outfit ruined later, but that was a small price to pay.

“It seems that young Chell has become stressed,” Nezu carefully said, his gaze flicking over to the still tense Vance couple. “I suggest we adjourn this meeting prematurely, and perhaps reschedule for a later date. 

His gaze changed, focusing back on the stranger. “As for you, you are trespassing on private property. I ask that you don’t resist when my staff come to arrest you.”

“Don’t trouble yourself,” the man dismissed, reaching down behind the desk, bringing up a briefcase that he carried by his side. “None of your staff would be able to restrain me, nor is there technology in this world that could contain me, not anymore at least. I know when I am not welcome, so I’ll see myself out.”

He walked towards the doorway, none in the room moving to stop him. Just as he reached the threshold, he turned around, looking over at Chell and Hizashi.

“Before I go, I shall leave young Chell with a gift,” he said. Within Hizashi’s embrace, he heard Chell let off a small, pained whine, her eyes scrunching up.

“No need to worry, it is nothing detrimental,” the man said, anticipating Hizashi’s words. “It will simply allow her to learn the local language at a much faster rate. I believe that, in time, you’ll thank me for this gift.” 

He nodded to each person in the room. “Alyx and Gordon Vance. Hizashi and Chell Yamada. N-5.26.21.”

Hizashi looked over as Nezu began to snarl, hate and fear blending together, but when Hizashi looked back, the stranger was gone. Not only that, but he saw the retreating forms of Alyx and Gordon Vance, giving chase after the intruder.

“Sir, if you don’t mind-” Hizashi began, only for Nezu to speak over him.

“Yes, take Chell someplace where she feels safe, you have my permission, Yamada,” Nezu said, his gaze not leaving the doorway. “In fact, you may take the rest of the day off. I’m sure Chell will appreciate it.”

“Yes sir,” Hizashi nodded, lifting Chell up in his arms. It was only as he had stepped foot out of the office that he paused, looking over his shoulder at his employer. “Sir, are you alright?”

Nezu paused. That was the most frightening thing of all. Nezu’s quirk, High Specs, allowed him to think at an unfathomably faster rate than any human. That meant that no matter the question or problem presented to him, to an outsider, Nezu never needed to pause to think, he’d already know the answer, when in reality he had thought up the solution faster than a machine could process. But for him to actually pause and think meant that something had deeply troubled him.

“I will be fine,” he finally answered. “Merely remembering less than ideal days. Though I’m sure you and your daughter are able to relate to that, even if only to a lesser degree.”

Hizashi nodded in understanding. “Of course, sir, but get some rest anyway.”

Nezu only gave a noncommittal hum as Hizashi left the Principal’s office, calmly making his way to a nearby elevator. While he stayed fit, a requirement for any serious Pro, he still didn’t want to take the flights of stairs down to ground level while carrying Chell in his arms.

“You’ll be fine, kiddo,” Hizashi promised with a whisper, confident that Chell could hear him, even in her panicked state. “No one’s going to hurt you without getting through me, promise.”

Had Hizashi had super hearing as his quirk, he may have been able to hear Chell’s silent whisper.

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

-]l[-

Alyx was beyond furious as she gave chase to the retreating form of that time manipulating bastard. The fact that he had remained in reality was not lost on Alyx. She didn’t know why he was allowing her to catch up to him, but she really didn’t care.

“What’s your angle?!” she demanded, stepping in front of him and blocking his path. Behind him, Gordon had also arrived, having placed the Principal’s chair back, but now holding a metal bin in the air with his artificial quirk.

“Whatever do you mean, Mrs Vance?” the man asked, the constant amused expression on his face driving her mad.

“Don’t act coy with me, you bastard,” she swore. “You were lying in there when you said you had nothing to do with that girl being flung into the future. You had everything to do with it, didn’t you?!”

“Alyx, my dear, if I were not so gracious as to have frozen time around the three of us, someone may have heard that tidbit,” the man lightly scolded.

Alyx’s eyes glanced around, noticing the frozen motes of dust hanging in a sunbeam, as well as the light snowfall that refused to descend to the ground.

“Only those who were gathered in the room, plus one other who wasn’t present, are aware of Chell’s true origins,” the man explained. “As far as the teachers of this institute of learning are concerned, young Chell was an Outlander who was abducted, but she managed to free herself, crash landing on U.A.’s grounds a week ago. And as far as the public is concerned, Chell was rescued by U.A. staff members when they received an anonymous tip of illegal activities happening near their property. So for her sake, please keep her true origins a secret.”

Alyx sighed at that, realising how risky her outburst had been.

“Alright, I’ll admit that wasn’t my smartest move, but the fact still remains, you had something to do with it, didn’t you.”

The man smirked. “The best lies are those wrapped in truth. I never lied; Aperture Science was indeed the ones who sent her into the future. However, you are correct in your assumption that I had something to do with them discovering the technology to do so. A stray dream here, a moment of inspiration there, a whisper in their ear, all ensuring they went in the desired direction.”

“Why?” Alyx asked, voice the million dollar question.

“Because she is needed,” the man answered. “A storm is coming, a storm of war. And in war, soldiers, generals, and champions are needed. Chell had too much potential for it to waste away in the 21st century. No, she is needed here, where she can do much more good for the sake of society and progress.”

“You’re still a liar,” Alyx glared, only for the man to chuckle.

“Something we are both familiar with. Tell me, are you and your husband still maintaining that lie you tell to your son?”

Alyx and Gordon worriedly glanced at each other, but that was all the man needed to know.

“Ah, you are,” he nodded, glancing between them. “Then how can you stand here criticising me for false truths when you are both guilty of such actions?”

“We’re only trying to protect Eli,” Alyx defended, only for the man to raise a lone eyebrow.

“Really? So allowing your child to wallow in his doubts, his fears of living up to his supposed legacy, is protecting him? Allowing him to live the lie that he has generations of ancestors relying on him, that his ancestor is The One Free Man, a deity, when in truth it is his father? Well, I can see how that may protect him from others, but will it protect him from himself? Sometimes, we break underneath the burdens we place on ourselves.”

Alyx gritted her teeth, wishing she could deny his words, to prove him wrong, but there was nothing she could say.

“I’ll only say it once more. Stay. Away. From my son.”

“I promise to not seek him out,” the man promised. “However, should he seek me out instead, then that’s another matter entirely.”

A doorway of light appeared behind the man, glowing so brightly that Alyx and Gordon had to look away, shielding their eyes from its glare. The sounds of footsteps could be heard, and when the light had dimmed enough for them to look back, all that was there was the shrinking form of the luminous door, the man having stepped through to the other side.

“Damn it,” Alyx sighed, noticing thanks to the slowly falling snowflakes that time had resumed. 

She glanced over at Gordon, her confidant, her other half, the father of her child. He was still on edge, the trashcan he telekinetically held by his palm ready to be fired, not trusting that they had been truly left alone. Alyx reached out, grasping her husband’s free hand, smiling as he looked down at her.

“Come on, Gordon, let’s head off. We still haven’t taken Eli to see the sights in Tokyo, and we have more free time today than we thought. Why not make a family outing of it?”

Gordon smiled at her suggestion, nodding his head in agreement as he gently placed the bin down. It wasn’t in its original position, but what did it matter. All that mattered in Alyx’s mind was that her husband was still beside her, just like it was meant to be. The only thing that could make it better was to be sure that the bastard wouldn’t touch her son. He had given his word, but Alyx knew just how cheap that could be.

-]l[-

Evening had fallen at the Yamada household, and Hizashi found himself not serving for two as had become the new norm, but for four. Both Shota and Nemuri had suggested getting together for dinner, and Hizashi had suggested that his place was the best for it. It would allow for privacy, something that he knew Chell would like, it was close by, since Nemuri lived in Saitama, and it had more room than Shota’s apartment.

“Chell’s doing quite well with Nemuri’s lessons,” Shota quietly mentioned, glancing across the table where Hizashi’s daughter and sister-figure were talking, Nemuri speaking words and phrases in Japanese, with Chell repeating them back, or trying to create new sentences out of them.

“Yeah, kiddo’s taken to it like a fish to water,” Hizashi nodded.

“Better hope it isn’t saltwater,” Shota muttered, “wouldn’t want the kid to get eaten by leeches.”

“It’s just a saying, Shota,” Hizashi chuckled, nudging his brother-figure with his elbow. “It was made before the Portal Storms, you know, when fish lived in both the seas and rivers?”

“I know, but that doesn’t make it any easier to imagine,” Shota admitted, drinking from his beer, before his eyes widened.

“I know that look, Shota,” Hizashi grinned. “Come on, spit it out, what idea have you come up with?”

“I don’t have a look,” Shota denied, though the slight upturn of his lips showed his humorous mood. “I just had the thought that the U.A. Entrance Exams are coming up. Maybe Chell would like to go to it”

“She just turned fourteen,” Hizashi said. “She’s way too young to attend, but not only that, she’s still learning how to speak Japanese, let alone write it. She’d flunk the written test.”

“Not participate in it, you idiot, but watch,” Shota explained. “She could watch how it happens from the monitoring room. Sure, teachers are the only ones meant to be there, but I’m sure Principal Nezu would be willing to make an exception.”

“Hm, not a bad idea,” Hizashi nodded, turning his attention to the other two across the table. “Hey kiddo, got a moment?”

Chell and Nemuri both turned to face him, pausing midway in their impromptu Japanese lesson.

“What?” Chell asked, tilting her head.

“You know how the three of us work at U.A., and how it’s a hero school?” Hizashi asked, gesturing to the three adults. “Well, how would you like to come and see how the Entrance Exam works?”

“What’s an entrance exam?”

“Yeah, guess you wouldn’t know what those are,” Nemuri muttered. “Chell, you know what a school is, right?”

“I’m not stupid,” Chell frowned, and even though it was meant to be angry, Hizashi couldn’t help but think it looked cute. The only way to make it better was if she was pouting. “Even if I’ve never been to school, I know what it is.”

“Okay, my mistake,” Nemuri kindly grinned, patting the young girl’s hair. “Well, the U.A. Entrance Exam is like a test to see who can get in. Because U.A. is one of the best hero schools in Japan, lots of people apply for the Hero Course, one of U.A.’s four student paths. So every year, U.A. holds their Entrance Exam. While those who want to participate in the Business, Support, or General Studies courses need to do well in the written portion of the exam, those who want to get into the Hero Course have to do well in the practical exam.”

“What happens in it?” Chell asked. “Is there fighting?”

“Oh, lots of it, kiddo,” Hizashi grinned. “Rather than have the potential students duke it out with each other, we have them enter different battle zones that are styled off different themes. Cities, suburban areas, forests, malls, and a bunch more. Applicants are graded off the points they gain throughout the test, and you gain points by fighting robots.”

“Robots?” Chell asked, her eyes growing wide.

“Uh, yeah,” Hizashi nodded, silently bashing himself over the head. How could he be so stupid?! He knew that Chell had a bad history with machines.

“I get to watch them fight and destroy robots?” Chell asked, eyes wide and sparkling. “Really? I get to watch that?”

“Yes?” Hizashi cautiously answered.

Chell was silent for a moment, looking down at the table as she thought. This only lasted a moment, however, as her eyes locked with Hizashi, a wide grin stretched across her face. “When can we watch it?!”

“The test is at the end of next week,” Shota calmly said. “The test always takes place on a Saturday, since it’s happening near the end of the academic year.”

“So I get to see what it's like when I take it?!” Chell excitedly asked.

“Are you wanting to go to U.A. too, Chell?” Nemuri asked. “You want to be a hero?”

“Yeah, I want to be a hero like Hizashi,” Chell nodded. “If it means I get to use my powers and help, I think it’s a good idea.”

“Oh, look at my little niece wanting to be like her dad!” Nemuri gushed, pulling Chell into a hug, her face pressed into Nemuri’s sizable chest. “Aren’t you just the cutest?!”

“Nemuri, Chell can’t breathe,” Shota warned, the R-Rated Hero oblivious to Chell’s flailing arms.

“Oh, sorry sweetie,” Nemuri apologised, loosening her hold on Chell enough for her to pull back, but maintaining her hold on the young girl. Nemuri then turned her attention to Shota, a sly grin spreading across her face. “Now, if you and Emi finally get together, I can play auntie to your cute babies.”

“Lay off, Nemuri,” Shota huffed, a faint blush across his cheeks as he drained the rest of his beer. “Emi lives all the way down in Fukuoka, there’s too much of a distance to make it work. Plus she’s doing well with her job at Ketsubutsu Academy; I couldn’t take her away from that, even if she’d agree in a heartbeat.”

“Aw, look at you, Mr Grumpy Pants, you do care,” Hizashi teased.

“Whatever,” Shota sighed, before changing the topic. “So, Chell, you want to be a hero, huh?”

“Yeah,” Chell nodded. “If it lets me use my power to help people, that’s what I want to be.”

“You got any other talents beyond your quirk?” Shota asked.

“I’m really strong!” Chell declared, grabbing a fork and effortlessly bending it into a hoop.

“Chell, what have I said about bending the cutlery?!” Hizashi cried, causing Chell to flinch, lowering her head in shame.

“Sorry, Hizashi,” she apologised, unbending the fork back as close to its original shape as she could. 

“It’s okay, kiddo, it’s just a fork,” Hizashi sighed, giving the warped cutlery a close look. It was noticeable, a slight dip where Chell had applied pressure, but it could still function. “Just, next time you need to demonstrate your strength, maybe try something less destructive, like lifting the couch.”

“Okay,” Chell nodded, before turning back to Shota. “I’m also really tough and good at using my powers.”

“Quirk,” Shota corrected. “When in public, it’s best if you say quirk. People will get what you mean, but they might give you an odd look.”

“Right, I’m really good at using my, uh, quirk, and I can think really fast,” Chell concluded.

Shota nodded to himself, his shifting eyes that were focused on the table a telltale sign that he was thinking deeply.

“You’ve got a decent framework,” he admitted. “Do you know how to fight?”

“Of course I do,” Chell scoffed. “Any of us scavenger kids had to learn to fight. If you couldn’t fight, you couldn’t fight back when someone tried to steal your stuff.”

“Let me rephrase: do you know how to fight, or do you know how to scrap?”

Chell opened her mouth to answer only to pause before she made a sound, her face scrunching up in thought. “What’s the difference?”

“That answer is enough of an answer,” Shota muttered. “Simply put, you don’t know how to exert control. According to Recovery Girl, that facility that held you did something to your body, meaning that you’re stronger than before. And assuming you haven’t gotten into any fights, you’re not used to your new strength.”

At that, Chell was silent, glancing over at Hizashi. Taking the que, he coughed into his hand, uncertain how to explain it. “Uh, sorry to say, Shota, but Chell did get into a fight recently.”

“What? When?”

“A few nights ago, against some Antlions.”

Shota simply blinked, too stunned to say anything. Nemuri wasn’t much better, as her jaw hung as low as it could.

“So that’s what that emergency call at the wall was for,” Shota muttered. “Well, regardless, you don’t have much experience fighting against someone in a structured manner. Let me guess, you don’t know how to perform a shoulder throw, right?”

Chell shook her head, her ponytail lightly slapping against Nemuri.

“Well, if you want an edge on the competition, I could give you some lessons on Sundays,” Shota suggested. “U.A. is closed on Sundays, but I don’t mind taking a few hours out of my day off to teach you some of the basics.”

“Would that be alright?” Chell nervously asked, looking around at all of the gathered adults.

“Ah, don’t worry about it, kiddo,” Hizashi grinned, throwing an arm over Shota’s shoulder. “That’s just Shota’s special way of wanting to have some bonding time with his niece.”

“Lay off, Hizashi,” Shota grumbled, but much to Hizashi’s amusement, Shota didn’t try to get out of his embrace, nor did he deny his words. 

“And I can take you shopping!” Nemuri squealed. “Oh, there are so many places in Tokyo that we could visit! After all, some of the flashest clothing stores in Japan are in Tokyo’s Commercial District.”

“Sure, Nemuri, but just be sure not to get anything too expensive or too, well, you,” Hizashi bargained, with Shota vigorously nodding beside him.

“And what does ‘not too me’ mean?” Nemuri asked, a warning tone in her voice that Hizashi pointedly ignored.

“You know, when we were at U.A. as students, Nemuri’s costume was a trench coat,” Hizashi fake whispered to Chell.

“What’s so bad about that?” Chell asked.

“No, kiddo, you’re not getting it,” Hizashi insisted, leaning in close. “She wore a trench coat as her hero costume. Just a trench coat.”

Chell’s eyes widened with shock, staring at Nemuri, who herself had launched up from her chair, slamming her hands on the table and glaring at Hizashi.

“I wore more than my trench coat!” she yelled angrily, indignant tears in her eyes. “I wore pads over my girls and I wore panties with a belt!”

Rather than being cowed by Nemuri’s outburst, it only caused Hizashi to burst out laughing, his chair tilting back as he cackled loudly, while Shota chuckled quietly.

“Nemuri, you were the reason why regulations were placed on how much skin could be shown with your costumes,” Shota chuckled. “Come on, you have to admit that your hero costume as a student was racy. Hell, it skirts the line as it is right now.”

“Fine, fine, laugh it up, you guys,” Nemuri sighed, sinking back into her seat. “I’ll make sure to not choose something too revealing for Chell. Not that I was planning to anyway. She’s Hizashi’s daughter, making her my niece, and I’d only get her that kind of clothing when she’s of age and if it’s to her taste.”

“How are you able to fight with no clothing?”Chell earnestly asked. “Would you get hurt more often? Doesn’t it get cold?”

“The answer to the first problem is to avoid being hit,” Nemuri proudly answered, holding up a finger that was quickly joined by a second. “The answer to your second question is the divine gift that is personal heating! Let me tell you, without proper insulation in my costume, I’d be a seasonal pro. See, back when I first went pro, I hadn’t settled on my costume design, kind of in between costumes…”

I kind of struggled with the ending there, wasn’t sure how to wrap it up nicely, but I think I did okay.

All in all, not much in this chapter, kind of a filler if I’m being honest. Not like an official filler where the animation studio is trying to bide time while the manga continues, but like a fluff episode that isn’t crucial to the plot initially. We got some lore confirmations, specifically that Chell isn’t wrong in her fear that she’s timetravelled, the G-Man continues to pluck at the strings, we got some lore for Nezu (and if anyone figures out how he got his name, cookie to you), and last but very much not least, we got the mention of a new character. Yes, Gordon and Alyx have had a son in the years they’ve been in the 23rd Century, as well as settling down and getting married. Will Eli be a recurring character? Yeah, most definitely, in fact, he’s going to be a member of the main group of four. Similar to how Izuku, Ochako, and Tenya are one friend group, then you’ve got Katsuki and Eijiro, a new friend group will be formed with Chell being one of four members, and Eli Vance (secretively named after his grandfather, though he isn’t aware of this fact) being another. As for the other two, well, you’ll be meeting another next chapter.

Anyway, enough from me, let’s get into reviews.

TheGigaGamer75, thanks for the review as always. To clarify, quirks STARTED thanks to Dark Energy creating/accelerating mutations in Humans, whichever school of thought you want to subscribe to. However, Dark Energy being used on someone without the quirk gene in them? Well, that can have interesting results, as you’ve seen, and as you possibly will see. But yes, Chell does have a quirk, even if it was given artificially. So does Gordon and Alyx for that matter, with their quirks reflecting aspects of their gravity equipment.

the_Blue_M00n, thanks for the review, it’s certainly an idea I’ll note down. Who knows, it might fit in well in the future.

i_really_should_be_sleeping, thanks for the review. Damn, imagine that. You load the disk, hoping for something, only to receive the dreaded Blue Screen of Death. As for your question, yes, performing surgery on someone when you haven’t received consent is illegal, and has a term called Involuntary Treatment. This can allow the patient to sue the practitioner, but it’s very rare for it to happen.

ultima-owner, thanks for the review. Yeah, G-Man is a schemer, while AFO is just straight up evil. As you saw last chapter, that’s actually what I referenced when Eli Vance spoke about the Child of Light dying. However, the effects of the incident are long reaching, and they have caused changes in Chinese society. And don’t worry, the G-Man is far from trustworthy. He has a very specific agenda, and he will do anything to achieve it. That, and assuming he follows the same set of morals as most people is a big assumption. Powers does things to how people think, after all…

123 (Guest), thanks for the review. You’d be surprised, after GLaDOS sent Chell away to what she thought was another reality, Aperture Science closed itself off. She still monitors the outside world, but that was more to do with enjoying the sight of humanity fighting amongst itself, all while GLaDOS stayed hidden away. However, while GLaDOS may have had nothing to do with the Combine Loyalists, that isn’t to say that they’ve all died out.

grindy_rust_rustbucket (Guest), thanks for the review. Will do, I’ll try to crank up the kooky metre to eleven, all the while she’s actually dead on. Given the experiments that Aperture Performed, there’s probably a lot of material for me to draw from. As for GLaDOS, I’d say she’s too arrogant to use mere metal. I figure she’d invent a lightsaber for the specific purpose of making sure this time that Chell kicks the bucket. Of course she wouldn’t, we all know that, but we can let the murderous A.I. dream.

1321 (Guest), I can totally see GLaDOS panicking at the sight of Chell and just hucking the closest thing nearby. Poor turret, he only wanted to protect infants (yeah, that’s literally what Aperture designed the turrets to do).

And finally, BrightEyedAthene, glad you’re enjoying it so far, hope you stick around for the ride.

Okay, and that’s all. For your sneak peek, next chapter is called, ‘ Sweet Treats ’. Chell and Hizashi are going on a trip, and Chell can finally get what was promised to her centuries ago…

See you next time…

- Jevm

Chapter Text

Over a month had passed since Chell had arrived in the 23rd Century, and life had been unexpectedly boring. Sure, the presence of heroes both out in public, on the news, as well as being her adoptive father’s coworkers was surreal, but life was nonetheless uneventful. Uncle Shota (because that was what Hizashi insisted she should call him) gave her lessons every Sunday, as well as bonus lessons whenever he had a spare moment after school. He was the homeroom teacher for one of the Hero Course classes, Class 1-A, meaning he had an extra class to teach after 3 PM. He was often busy with it, however there were a few times each month where someone else would take over teaching the class, and Shota would give Chell extra lessons in her hand-to-hand training. It had been strange at first, as the movements he drilled into her didn’t feel as natural, but after weeks of repetition they started to flow more seamlessly. Uncle Shota had even said that once she had gotten the basics mastered, they might add her quirk into the training.

Her grasp on the Japanese language had also increased exponentially. Ever since the meeting with U.A.’s principal, every Japanese word that she heard and understood the meaning stayed in her mind, as if she had always known about it. She had asked Hizashi about it, but he simply shrugged, saying that she might simply be a genius. She didn’t have to be a genius to see that Hizashi was just as unsure of how it was happening as she was.

Not that Chell minded, though. Aunt Nemuri loved to help her learn her new home country’s language, often commenting on how smart her niece was to make so much progress in so little time. Even though there were more complicated and obscure words that she didn’t know, simply because she hadn’t heard them yet, Chell's inquisitive and problem solving mind had greatly aided her. After only a month of study, not only with Aunt Nemuri, but also Hizashi, Uncle Shota, and the staff at U.A., Chell was already confident in her ability to converse in basic conversations. Using the computer helped, and while all of the different characters in the Japanese language were more difficult, Chell was still able to read basic writing, enough for her to go to the stores, pick up some groceries, and not make a mistake in picking up things that Hizashi didn’t ask for.

“Hizashi, I’m home!” Chell called out, slipping off her shoes as she stood in the foyer, the four fabric bags placed on the floor beside her. Chell would never thank GLaDOS for anything, but she would admit that her augmented strength did come in handy occasionally.

Grabbing a cloth that rested on top of the shoe rack, Chell wiped down her implants, making sure she wasn’t bringing in any mud into the house. Hizashi said it was something to do with Japanese customs about cleanliness, but Chell just didn’t want to make more work for herself.

“Hizashi, did you hear me?!” Chell called out as she walked through the house. “I’m back with the groceries!”

“I hear you, kiddo!” Hizashi called back from somewhere in the house. “I’ll be out in a minute, just in my room, okay?!”

Chell simply grunted, moving herself into the kitchen, sometimes angling herself to fit through narrow doorways to not crush the bags and their contents by her side. She placed them down in the centre of the small room, getting to work at putting them in the right places; cans and dry goods in the cupboards, fruit, vegetables, and other perishables in the fridge, and meats and frozen goods in the freezer.

“Hey Hizashi, groceries are put away,” Chell said, having walked over to his room, leaning against the open doorway.

“Oh, thanks, kiddo,” Hizashi grinned, looking up at her from where he knelt on the ground. “Sorry, as you can clearly see, I’m a bit preoccupied.”

Chell glanced around the room, taking in the open wardrobe, dresser, and drawers. Clothes were scattered around, and sitting next to Hizashi was a travel bag.

“What are you doing?” Chell asked with a raised eyebrow. “What’s with the bag and the mess?”

“Well, I was going to talk about it at dinner tonight, but I guess now’s as good a time as any,” Hizashi shrugged. “Just packing my bag is all, trying to figure out what I’ll need to take with me.”

“How long will you be gone?” Chell asked, trying desperately to keep the fear out of her voice.

Hizashi’s gaze snapped up to her, his eyes widening as he quickly got up to the floor, rushing over to her and pulling her into his arms.

“Oh, kiddo,” he murmured, holding her close. “Shit, I probably should have explained differently. “I’m not leaving, just heading down to Hiroshima for the weekend. A friend of mine is throwing a party for his birthday and he wanted me to attend as the DJ.”

“Could I come?” Chell nervously asked.

“I…” Hizashi began, before trailing off. “Actually, I don’t see why not. I haven’t booked by train ticket or my hotel room yet, and it would allow you to see more of the country. Ah, what the hell, why not?! Bukkomi owes me anyway, so I’m sure he’ll allow it.”

“Really?” Chell beamed. “I can come with you.”

“Of course, kiddo,” Hizashi grinned. “After all, who’s gonna keep you out of trouble?”

“I’m not that bad,” Chell frowned, only for Hizashi to let out a bark of laughter.

“Really? So I didn’t have to be called to the police station because you got into a fight?”

“Those guys deserved it!” Chell protested. “They were picking on a kid because he was poor!”

“And I couldn’t be happier,” Hizashi smiled, “but you have to admit, you jump the gun more often than not.”

“It’s not like it’s illegal to perform a citizen’s arrest,” Chell muttered.

“But you take it too far,” Hizashi argued. “Remember, kiddo, it has to be proportional. That’s what Shota is trying to teach you, right? Learning how to consciously limit your strength, not using too much to severely hurt someone?”

Chell grumbled, but she knew she didn’t have an excuse she could give.

“Off you go, Chell,” Hizashi said, waving his hands, “go pack your bag. The train arrives around 4 PM tomorrow afternoon, and after a five hour ride we should arrive in Hiroshima at 9 PM, assuming there aren’t any delays. Then we’ve got the whole day to ourselves, the party in the evening, and then the train to catch back home in the morning the following day.”

“So clothes and toothbrush,” Chell summarised as she walked out of the room. “Anything else?”

“Make sure to have something to do on the ride,” Hizashi advised. “Five hours is a long time, and trust me, the material they have available on the trains is really boring. Maybe you could find some books to read on your phone?”

“I’ll think about it,” Chell called back, walking off to her room to prepare.

That was another thing that had changed. Hizashi, Aunt Nemuri, and Uncle Shota had surprised her one day with what they called a belated birthday party. Among the gifts that she had been given, the one that stood out the most had been Chell’s very own smartphone. It had taken her a few days to learn how to use it, but her new family had been eager to show her how to use every feature that she asked about, as well as many more she wasn’t aware of.

‘Aunt Nemuri’s birthday is coming up soon,’ Chell realised, going through her clothes and deciding which ones to take. ‘I should ask Uncle Shota and Dad what to get her.’

Chell froze, her eyes widening as she realised what had just gone through her head.

‘Dad,’ she tried, testing out how the word felt in her mind. ‘Not Hizashi. Dad.’

She wasn’t sure what to think of it. The logical part of her brain told her that Hizashi was her dad, technically. He was her legal guardian, and on the identification papers Principal Nezu had made, he was listed as her foster father. But the emotional part of her brain was warring with itself. On one side, it argued that they didn’t know Hizashi well enough, that they were jumping into it too quickly and too soon. Afterall, she wasn’t even sure if Hizashi would want to be called that. But the other side was louder, reminding her that this was what she had wanted for years, for someone to care for her, to love her in a way she had never been loved before, a kinder, warmer love, rather than boys being boys. 

“D-Dad,” Chell quietly said out loud, only to grimace. “Nope, not out loud yet.”

But despite the struggle Chell had with saying it out loud, it did nothing to dampen the joy that was quickly spreading through her.

‘Father?’ she tried. ‘No, too formal, doesn’t suit either of us. Pai? Maybe. Daddy? Nope, hard pass. Best to stick with Dad.’

Chell resumed packing, but this time with a broad smile across her face.

‘Even if I’m not ready to say it out loud, I’ll just have to wait for the day when I can,’ Chell thought. ‘I hope Dad likes it as much as I do.’

-]l[-

Chell had been buzzing with excitement from the moment she woke up, filled with uncontainable energy as the time seemed to drag on. Hizashi had apparently noticed her excitement, because rather than allow her to stew at home, he had given her a series of odd jobs to complete to pass the time. Giving the house a final clean, returning borrowed books to the local library, anything to occupy her mind, until finally, it was time.

“So we’re here,” Chell said aloud in Japanese, standing in front of a map of Japan’s train line and pointing at the star that was labelled Tokyo. “Then the train goes through Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto, Kobe, and then arrives at Hiroshima.”

“That’s right, kiddo,” Hizashi grinned, clapping a hand on her shoulder as he stood next to her. “Your Japanese is coming along nicely.”

Chell beamed at the praise, her mind wandering back to the map, taking in the eleven dots and one star that were marked on the map. “And these are all of the cities of Japan?”

“Yep,” Hizashi nodded, popping the p. “They’re all that the Combine decided to spare and enslave.”

“And a train line runs through the entire country?”

“The National Expressline, correct,” Hizashi said. “It comes through every hour, traveling from Sapporo in the north, all the way to Fukuoka in the south.”

“But what about these two?” Chell asked, pointing to two cities who had blue rather than red lines connecting them to the nearby cities. “Osaka and Kawasaki, why are they different?”

“Osaka and Kawasaki are a little out of the way,” Hizashi explained. “Rather than having the National Expressline going through them as well, they’re bypassed to make a shorter journey. In return, Osaka is connected to Kyoto and Kobe by a personal trainline, while Kawasaki is connected to Tokyo and Yokohama.

“ The National Expressline to Yokohama is now arriving at the station, ” an intercom announced. “ All passengers for the southbound National Expressline, please make your way to Platform 9. Repeat, all passengers for the southbound National Expressline to Yokohama, please make your way to Platform 9, thank you. ”

“Come on, kiddo, that’s our call,” Hizashi said, shouldering his duffle bag and making his way through the crowds, Chell sticking close behind him. The crowds in the station were somewhat lessened with it being the middle of the day, rather than the rush hours, but the Spring holidays had started, and so students of all ages were making the most of the short time off they had before the new school year began. 

Something that was of note to Chell was how little attention they received as they moved through the station. She remembered a few times when she and Hizashi had gone out somewhere when he had been in his costume. They seemed to have been swarmed by fans every few minutes, even though Hizashi wasn’t all that high on the Hero Billboards. But now, no one paid them a second look. After all, Present Mic styled his blond hair into a spike that stuck up above the crowds, wore a speaker around his neck, shades on his face, and dressed in leather. Hizashi Yamada, on the other hand, often pulled his hair back into a man bun, wore rectangular glasses with black rims, and wore a fairly plain blue jacket with jeans, sneakers, and a white shirt.

‘Definitely a good thing that he didn’t wear his hero costume,’ Chell thought to herself, pushing past people and ignoring their comments of irritation. ‘We’d never have made it this far if he was mobbed by a crowd of fans.’

They arrived at the platform just in time to see the train pull in. Unlike the trains Chell had seen travelling around Tokyo, designed for intracity travel, this train that they were boarding was larger, much larger. It stood at an imposing six metres tall, the cab made of a gunmetal black colour, and sculpted into a ramming point. Being pulled by the large cab were a variety of coaches. At the front were the luxury cabins, each one a small room by itself. Following behind these were the two storied levels of the economy cabins, filled with rows upon rows of plush seats, and were overall the standard way to travel the country. Finally, trailing at the back were carts filled with goods, be it material or postage. These were placed where they were to make it easy for them to be disconnected at the cities that required them, as Chell was able to hear rather than see, the clunk of disconnecting segments echoing out of the tunnel that obscured it. 

The vehicle was designed to run the length of the country, a journey that would take almost a day’s length to complete from start to finish, and thus needed to accommodate those who’d be making the long journey from north to south. Not only that, but due to the danger that came with travelling through the Wastelands and Outlands, the Razor-class train was designed to protect the passengers and cargo that it carried. Even though Chell wasn’t able to tell simply by looking at it, Hizashi had taught her all about the measures put in place to protect them. The seemingly fragile glass was actually reinforced, enough that small arms fire would barely scratch it. Durable metal was plated along the outside of the cabins, and Chell knew that if the drivers deemed it necessary, shutters were able to roll down over the windows, designed to protect the passengers inside. 

Hizashi led Chell to the front-most cab, and after showing his hero license to the guard stationed there, they were allowed to pass.

“Such are the luxuries of being a hero,” Chell recalled Hizashi explaining once, and Chell only now truly appreciated the benefits that such a position could provide, such as the luxury cabin they were now resting in. It was a simple room, with beds, a couch, and a single T.V. screen facing the beds, as well as a window view, even though it currently would only show the concrete walls of the station. However, despite its seemingly basic appearance, Chell knew that it would cost most people a sizable payment to rent one of these rooms, a price that Hizashi didn’t have to pay, thanks to it being a free service offered to Pro Heroes and their families. And anyway, it was much more comfortable than trying to rest and pass the time on the seats in the economy cabins.

“I thought I might as well create an itinerary for when we’re at Hiroshima,” Hizashi explained, pulling out his phone and reading off of it as he lay on his bed. “We’ll arrive at Hiroshima late tonight, so we’ll check into our hotel, get our stuff put away, and then head to bed. The National Expressline has catered meals, so we’ll have dinner ordered in. Then tomorrow, we could go to the Botanical Gardens, go for a walk up Mount Futaba, or maybe even visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.”

“What’s that?” Chell asked, flopping onto her own bed once she had placed down her bag.

“The Peace Museum?” Hizashi questioned, with Chell confirming with a nod. “Well, back in the day, like back in your day, it was about the atomic bomb that was dropped on the city back during World War 2 in the 20th Century. Nowadays, however, its purpose has changed to document and display the history of Japan while we were under the occupation of the Combine. It has displays on the actions of local resistance movements, stories of humanity in the worst of times, and even a day-by-day account of the Great Uprising, when Japan joined the world in fighting back against the Combine.”

Chell simply hummed her understanding, bringing up a music app on her phone as the final calls for boarding sounded out.

“Oh, and we could go to this bakery I know!” Hizashi enthusiastically voiced. “It's run by a friend of mine and his wife, both of them retired heroes. They’ve got some of the best pastries and sweets in all of Hiroshima, maybe even in all of Japan. Oh man, Chell, once you taste their cakes, you’ll never want it from anywhere else!”

Chell froze, her fingers frozen in their movement. “C-Cake?”

“Yeah, whatever flavour you want!” Hizashi gleefully said, ignorant of the roiling emotions within Chell. “Me, I love a good banana cake, but chocolate is pretty good too.”

“Do you promise we can get some cake?” Chell hesitantly asked.

“Of course, kiddo, if you want, we can-”

“Hizashi,” Chell interrupted, her arms wrapping around her sides. “Do you promise?”

Hizashi glanced over, his jovial expression quickly fading as concern replaced it. He moved off his bed, his movement swaying with the rhythm of the moving train as he sat on the edge of her bed, a hand reaching out and resting on her arm.

“Chell, are you okay?” he asked with abundant care in his eyes. “What prompted that?”

Chell’s teeth played with the inside of her lip, biting down on it as memories flowed through her. She felt tears welling in her eyes, furiously blinking them back, her nails digging into her palms as the first trickle of tears managed to escape her eyes.

“Hey, it’s alright,” Hizashi comforted, wrapping one arm around her, pulling her into a side hug. “Whatever it was, it’s not here now.”

It was too much for Chell, a sob bursting from her lips, her face buried into Hizashi’s collar. His other arm wrapped around her, but he didn’t say a word, simply holding her, the only sound other than Chell’s quiet sobs being the rhythmic noise of the train racing along the tracks. 

It was only as Chell managed to regain control over her breathing that she found the ability to speak, to tell Hizashi everything about her final official test. From the seemingly simple trial, to avoiding energy pellets, and having to create portals along the wall to avoid being pushed off into the strange, unknown liquid that was said to kill her.

“How did you know it would?” Hizashi asked, briefly interrupting Chell’s account. “I mean, how did you know they weren’t lying to you?”

Chell hesitated, her lip briefly trembling. “The acid was strong enough to strip away flesh, but not bones.”

“Oh, kiddo,” Hizashi muttered, rubbing soothing circles on her back.

“There were so many of them,” Chell sobbed, a fresh round to tears leaving their trails behind. “That test, the eighth one, I think was when I began to realise how much of a mess I was in. How little they cared for me.”

After another minute, Chell continued.

“Then, as the platform neared the corner, I started to feel this heat in the air. It was only as the platform rounded it that I realised it was this blazing furnace, directly in my path, with no way to avoid it. I was going to die, going to burn alive, and all that bitch could be concerned about was the fact that the portal gun was going to survive. All of my effort, all of the risks and danger, and it was going to end like this? Dying alone, burnt to death in flames so hot not even my bones would remain?!”

“She lied to you,” Hizashi said, not asking a question, but instead stating an observation. “The whole test had been a lie.”

Chell didn’t answer, only nodding her head.

“And that’s what caused this.”

She nodded again.

Hizashi took in a deep breath, exhaling it slowly out of his nose. He cleared his throat, exhaling as he began to speak only to stop him, pausing, then beginning to speak, before stopping once more.

“Chell, listen,” he said, pulling back as placing his arms on her shoulders, looking her in the eye. “I’ll say it as many times as it takes for you to believe me, but that will never happen to you again. I won’t lie to you, or betray you, or consciously do anything to make you cry. What she did, that machine who controlled the facility, is a textbook definition of a villain, hurting people for her own benefit. And I’m a hero, right? So I’ll fight against her to protect you. If that means physically fighting her, then I’ll do that, but I’m also a teacher, someone meant to guide and nurture students. So if I have to fight against her by helping you move on from the pain she has put you through, then I can do that too.”

Chell’s vision blurred as yet more tears welled up in her eyes. She leaned forward, her forehead leaning against his chest.

“Thank you,” Chell nodded, pausing for a moment before taking a deep breath. “Dad.”

Chell felt Hizashi’s hands on her shoulder tense, but rather than pulling away as she feared, he pulled her in, holding her tightly.

“You’re welcome, daughter.”

Chell sagged against him, all of the tension and fear leaving her. And as she fell asleep, for the first time that she could remember, she felt at home.

-]l[-

Chell and Hizashi walked down a street in Hiroshima, the almost silent noise of cars driving past an occasional disturbance. Even though she had been in the 23rd Century for over a month, Chell still found it strange just how quiet the cars of this time were, their engines quiet from the lack of a petrol engine.

The lack of people was also unique. Tokyo was always busy, no matter the time of day, and at night the number of people out on the streets was only lessened, rather than removed. But here in Hiroshima, with almost a fourteenth of the population of her home city, only she and Hizashi were around on this particular part of the road.

“You're sure you know where you're going, Dad?” Chell asked, a teasing smile on her lips. “I don't need to ask a stranger for directions, do I?”

“Oh come on, Chell, it was one time!” Hizashi protested. “And besides, I'm following a map. It's been a while since I've been here, and these recent developments aren't helping my sense of direction.”

“Whatever you say, Dad,” Chell chuckled, the very act of being able to call him Dad causing a skip in her step.

“Alright, it should be just round this corner…” Hizashi trailed off, glancing up and beaming. “Ha! Told you I wouldn't get us lost!”

Chell looked over where he was pointing, seeing a row of shops up ahead at the end of the street, running along the main road that they were heading to. No one theme seemed to exist, with gift shops boasting souvenirs placed right next to convenience stores.

“Which one are we going to?” Chell asked as they crossed the quiet road. “There seem to be a few bakeries.”

“This one right here!” Hizashi grinned, looking up at the sign that hung above the door. It was a red board with yellow coloured letters, and fortunately for Chell were written in English characters.

“Sato Sweets,” Chell read aloud. “You know these guys?”

“Oh yeah, the owners and I go way back to when I was a student at U.A.,” Hizashi explained, opening the door as he did, setting off a chime. “See, in my second and third years, I interned with a hero team called the Buster Union, and one of the local agencies that we’d often team up with was the Mighty Muscle agency. That's where I met the owners, Sato Hyōteki and Sato Kanmi, though she was Kinniku Kanmi at the time. Hyōteki was a sidekick in the agency under the hero name Sweet Strike, a few years older than me and a real big brother kind of figure. Kanmi on the other hand was the daughter of the two heroes who owned the agency, Kid Muscle and Ms Madd, and ran the business side of things. But when Hyōteki got badly injured while fighting a villain, he decided to hang up his costume, settle down with Kanmi, and the two of them had their son, Rikido.”

“So they’re retired heroes?” 

“Yep,” Hizashi nodded. “Hyōteki wasn’t some mainstream hero or anything, but he did good work for people, and always responded to a call for help.”

Chell nodded at that, looking around at the inside of the shop, taking note of the decor. Tables and chairs lined the walls, with the walls themselves filled with photos and paintings of rural landscapes and city skylines, creating a blend of old and new. Near the back of the store was a display cabinet, with all kinds of pastries and baking on full display, their name and price labelled underneath them. Next to the display was a counter, upon which sat a bell that Hizashi strode over to, pressing down on it once and causing a chime to sound out through the store.

“Coming!” a voice called out from behind the counter, accompanied by the clatter of trays and metal being placed back onto counters that were out of sight. The sound of footsteps could be heard, and immediately Chell could tell something was off. While there was the unmistakable sound of a booted footfall, there was also the sound of metal pressing against the floor; a sound that Chell heard whenever she took a step herself.

The man appeared from the back, revealing himself to be a broad, muscular man with pale skin, the splotches of flour that were scattered across his body only adding to it. A stained apron was worn over his chest, underneath which was a white, long sleeve shirt. On his head was a white chef's hat, and as he walked to the counter he removed it, revealing a full head of spiky brown hair that sat above a pair of prominent eyebrows. 

“Hizashi!” the man greeted with a broad grin. “How are you, you wannabe DJ!?”

“Hey, there’s nothing wannabe about me being a DJ!” Hizashi grinned back, firmly gripping the man’s extended hand in a shake. “Why do you think I’m here in Hiroshima?!”

“Ah, I heard about Bukkomi throwing a party,” the man mused, a hand reaching up to rub his jaw. “So you’re the person who he’s roped in to do his music?”

“Yeah, I just couldn’t say no. After all, if it wasn’t for him giving me a chance in Buster Union, I might not have been able to go Pro,” Hizashi explained. “It’s a damn shame he’s decided to retire. I know many people will be sad to see him hanging up his costume.”

“Ah, it happens to the best of us,” the man dismissed, waving his hand in front of his face. “Literally. Only the best of us get to choose to retire. Those of us who are either too weak or too unlucky don’t really get a choice in the matter.”

A tense silence fell over the shop. Chell glanced up at Hizashi, seeing he had a tense, conflicted expression, as if he wanted to say something, but felt he couldn’t.

“Oh, mind my manners,” the man exclaimed, looking over at Chell. “You must be Hizashi’s daughter, Chell.”

“Nice to meet you, sir,” Chell nodded, bowing her head.

“And you as well, young lady,” the man cheerfully replied. “Your father would have already mentioned this, but my name is Sato Hyōteki, formerly a licensed hero by the name Sweet Strike, now a humble baker.”

“Where’s Kanmi?” Hizashi asked, leaning over to try and peer into the kitchen. “She out doing a delivery?”

“Yeah, Mr Toshiyori is a loyal customer of ours, has been for years, but he’s getting on in age, so Kanmi or I often deliver his orders to him,” Sato Hyōteki explained. “It’s a decent arrangement we’ve sorted out, it allows us to-”

The ringing of a phone cut through the conversation, grabbing everyone’s attention.

“Oh, forgive me, I’ll need to answer this,” Mr Sato apologised, walking over to the phone. “Sato Sweets speaking.”

“Come on, kiddo,” Hizashi quietly said, intentionally keeping his voice down. “Let me show you something.”

He led her over to the left wall, moving over to a photograph that sat directly in the middle. In the photo were six figures, three of them civilians and three of them heroes. 

The oldest in the photo was a tall, bald, and skinny elderly man, with a flesh-coloured fin running from the top of his head down to the back of it. While that was certainly the oddest feature about him, a close second were the large lips that he had. His arms were held around an elderly woman, a warm smile on her face, with her wild, untamed hair hanging loose. Compared to who Chell assumed was her husband, she looked fairly normal.

Of the two who seemed to be in the middle of the age range, the first that caught Chell’s eye was one who looked like a younger, more muscular version of the elderly man, wearing the costume of a hero. Just like the elderly man, the hero had large lips on his face as well as a fin down the back of his head. However, unlike who Chell assumed was his father, he had a tuft of brown hair on the top of his head, sprouting right in front of the head fin. He wore a short-sleeved and long legged dark blue leotard which highlighted the hero's incredibly muscular build, which were accompanied by dark brown gloves and yellow boots. One of his arms was wrapped around a woman his age who was leaning into his side, showing the close relationship between the two of them. Unlike her partner, the woman had a normally proportioned face, as well as a full head of hair. Her hair was bright pink, reaching down past her shoulders, and where her partner had a full leotard, she only wore a crop top that held her ample chest, pants so short they could hardly be called pants, and a transparent miniskirt. Her lack of clothing made it easy for Chell to notice how fit the woman was, not overly muscular like her partner, but definitely having clearly defined muscles, showing she lived a fit and active lifestyle. 

The final two in the photo, the youngest, were a civilian and a hero. The civilian was a young girl, only a few years older than Chell, with her pink hair pulled back into a short ponytail. The large lips that she had clued Chell in that she was likely the daughter of the hero couple, having her father’s lips with her mother’s pink hair colour. Nervously standing beside her was a young man in a hero costume, and unlike the other two heroes in the photo, his costume included a mask that covered the upper half of his head, with only his mouth, eyes, and hair from the back of his head exposed. He also wore a form fitting leotard with a sandy-brown base and a lavender accent, a streak of the colour running from his neck, splitting into an X across his chest, and down the sides of his legs. A grey belt with a gold buckle was placed across his waist, and he wore matching white gloves and boots.

“This is a photo of Sato Hyōteki when he was younger,” Hizashi explained, pointing to the young man in the sandy costume. “Everyone else in the picture are members of the Kinniku family, who have had heroes in their family for generations. At the back,” he said, pointing at the elderly couple, “you have Kinniku Sugaru, a former Pro named Kinnikuman, and Kinniku Bibimba, his wife and a former vigilante named Horumon Heart. Then you have their son, Kinniku Mantaro, who went by the hero name Kid Muscle, as well as his wife, Kinniku Jacqueline, who went by the name Ms Madd, a nod to her family name as well as her temper. And finally, you have Kinniku Kanmi, their daughter, and the first Kinniku child in five generations to not become a Pro Hero, though she did a qualification in Hero Business Management, so she stayed in the hero business in that sense.”

“Sorry about that, we occasionally get customers calling in,” Mr Sato apologised, walking out from behind the counter that now had a bag of pastries on it, over to where Chell and Hizashi had been standing. 

Immediately, Chell’s eyes locked onto Mr Sato’s left leg, realising where the odd sound had been coming from. From the middle of his shin, Mr Sato’s leg was missing, replaced with a curved metal prosthetic nearly identical to Chell’s own implants. 

“Your leg,” Chell said, quickly clamping her hand over her mouth as she realised what she had said.

“Oh, this thing?” Mr Sato asked, glancing down at his prosthetic. “It’s nothing, barely notice that it’s missing these days. I’ll tell you, nerve editing has come a long way. Stops phantom pains and everything.”

The former hero looked over, and Chell noticed his gaze focusing on her implants, a sad expression crossing his face.

“I read the article about you, kid, how U.A. found the lab that you were trapped in. I’m sorry that someone from this country put you through so much pain. No child should have to go through what you did.”

“Thank you, sir,” Chell nodded, once more glad for the cover story that Principal Nezu had made.

Mr Sato gave her an encouraging nod, a forced happy expression quickly appearing on his face. “Ah, enough of this sadness. Tell me, Chell, have you seen much of Hiroshima yet?”

“No, sir. We arrived at the station late last night, so we haven’t had time yet.”

“Very good, this all lines up nicely then,” Mr Sato nodded to himself, before turning around to face behind the counter. “Rikido! Get down here! I have a job for you!”

Chell glanced up towards the ceiling as she heard footfalls racing above her, likely from an upstairs floor. The sound faded away, only to return as they sounded out from the back of the shop. From an obscured flight of stairs came a boy Chell’s age. Like his father, he had spiky, brown hair, as well as large eyebrows, but took from his mother with his large lips. Even though he was dressed in a simple t-shirt and shorts, Chell was able to see that he was very broad and muscular, much more so than anyone she’d met her age.

“You called, Pops?” the young man asked, looking at his father from behind the counter.

“Come over here and greet our guests,” Mr Sato scolded, prompting his son to hurry around. “Rikido, I’d like you to meet the Yamadas, Hizashi and Chell.”

“Hello,” Sato Rikido smiled, bowing to both Chell and Hizashi. “My name’s Sato Rikido, but Pops already told you that.”

“Rikido, I need you to take an order to Mrs Kodai. Your mother hasn’t come back yet from Mr Toshiyori, so I need you to make the delivery.”

“Can do, Pops,” the younger Sato nodded.

“And I want you to take Miss Yamada with you,” Mr Sato added. “She hasn’t seen the sights around Hiroshima yet, so I thought you could show her around. Her father and I have some catching up to do anyway.”

“Can do, Pops,” Sato Rikido grinned, picking up the bag of pastries as he turned to Chell. “Come on, Mrs Kodai’s place isn’t far.”

“ Mm ,” Chell hummed, following the younger Sato out of the shop, Hizashi and Mr Sato’s fading voices being cut off as the shop door closed.

The two teens walked down the street in silence, neither knowing what to say.

“So, um, I’m Sato Rikido,” the teen said, only for his cheeks to flush red. “Ah, stupid, you already said that.”

“It’s no problem,” Chell shrugged. “Sorry that your dad roped you into this.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sato smiled. “Pops would have given me the job anyway, and this way it gets me out of the house. It’s not good to stay cooped up indoors all the time, you know?”

“I don’t, actually.” 

Sato looked at her with a confused expression, prompting Chell to explain. 

“I was born in the Outlands, so I never really had an indoors to stay in,” she effortlessly lied. “The most I’d have would be some ruins whenever I went scavenging in the Wastelands.”

“Oh, you’re from the Outlands?” Sato stammered in embarrassment. “Sorry, I didn’t know.”

“Not your fault,” Chell said, shaking her head. “Life’s just unfair that way; there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Once more, an uncomfortable silence fell over them. While Chell didn’t mind it, she knew that Hizashi would like her to interact with more people her own age, something she had been severely lacking these days. 

“So, what do you like to do in your spare time?” Sato asked. “I like baking and working out.”

“I figured,” Chell smirked. “Your parents own a bakery, so that probably rubbed off on you, and you’re obviously muscular, so that has to come from somewhere.”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Sato sheepishly grinned, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand.

“Well, I like to read and listen to music,” Chell began, trying to think of things that they might share. “I also like doing my Japanese lessons with my aunt, as well as martial arts with my uncle.”

“Japanese isn’t your first language?!” Sato asked with a hanging mouth. “But you’re so good at it!”

“My aunt thinks so too,” Chell smiled. “She’s always saying how lucky she is to have a niece as smart as me.”

“So what other languages do you know?” Sato asked. “If you don’t mind sharing.”

“I’m fluent in both English and Portuguese,” Chell explained, using the story that she had memorised. “I was raised by an Outlander tribe outside of Brazil, so I learnt their language for a few years. Then, when I ran away, I simply kept learning the language. I only began learning Japanese when Hizashi and the other heroes found me after I was abducted. Since Hizashi already spoke English, they figured he was the best one to take care of me.”

“Dang,” Sato muttered, looking at the ground. “You’ve had a really eventful life. I’ve never had anything that exciting happen.”

“Even still, I wouldn’t wish for a different life,” Chell admitted.

“Why’s that?”

“Because the struggles I’ve faced, the challenges I’ve beaten, the odds I’ve overcome, they’ve all made me into the woman I am today. If I was raised in a loving family, safe within a city’s walls, I wouldn’t be me.”

“I can understand that,” Sato nodded. “If I didn’t have generations of heroes in my family line, I might not have wanted to be a hero, but a chef or a baker instead.”

“You want to be a hero?” Chell asked.

“Well, yeah, most kids do,” Sato nodded with a serious expression. “The issue is that they don’t know what it’s really like. They have these grand dreams of saving the day each and every time, of brand deals, popularity, and becoming the next All Might, or at least making it into the top ten in the Ranking Charts. But they don’t know about the late nights, the nightmares, or the stress that comes with having to risk your life to save people, and not always succeeding.”

Chell’s eyes widened with shock. She had heard from Uncle Shota about the risks and dangers that came with being a Pro, but it was something else to hear about it from someone her own age. 

“My family have always been street-level heroes,” Sato explained. “We don’t have a history of flashy quirks or anything like that. No elemental abilities, or mind powers, or shapeshifting. Just some baseline physical enhancements, making us stronger, faster, and tougher than most people. But what set my ancestors apart from everyone else was their drive. They trained constantly, always pushing themselves to their limit, increasing their limit, and never accepting that they’ve reached their limit. In my mind, there’s one thing that separates those who have a quirk license and those who are heroes: heroes never give up, even when the odds are stacked against them. They don’t run, they don’t cower, and they don’t give up, especially when someone is relying on them.”

Chell was stunned. Here was someone her age who had such grand visions of being a Pro Hero, yet weren’t blinded by the possible benefits he could reap. And here Chell was, focusing only on what being a hero could do for her.

‘Why do I want to be a hero?’ Chell asked herself. ‘Why do I want to take that risk?’

“Ah, we’re here,” Sato declared, pulling Chell out of her thoughts. She looked around, noticing that they were standing in front of a line of town houses, each of them built right next to the other, practically wall to wall.

“What’s this lady like?” Chell asked as she followed Sato to the door.

“The Kodai family often buy from my parents because I’m in the same class as their daughter,” Sato explained, rapping his knuckle against the door. “A few of my classmate’s families order from us for that exact reason, actually.”

Any further comments were cut off as the door swung open wide, revealing a teenage girl Chell’s age. She had shoulder-length black hair cut into a bob, with her hair swept to the sides. She had fair skin, a slim, athletic build, and despite the neutral, almost bored expression on her face, Chell would assume some would go so far as to call her beautiful.

“Morning, Kodai Yui,” Sato grinned, holding out the bag of pastries. “I have the baking that your mother ordered.”

The girl reached out, taking the bag off Sato, a small, near-imperceptible smile on her face. She looked up, her gaze flicking over to Chell, tilting her head as she did so.

“Oh, this is Yamada Chell,” Sato introduced. “Her and her dad are in the city for the weekend, so Pops’ asked me to show her around the city.”

“Hey,” Chell greeted, nodding her head in a casual greeting.

The quiet girl didn’t say a word, only humming in response, closing the door as she did.

“Well, she’s quiet,” Chell snarked, only for Sato to laugh in response.

“Believe it or not, that’s her being vocal,” he grinned as they walked down the street. “She’s normally the type to do something without making a sound, or even making eye contact.”

“Must be lonely.”

“Quite the opposite,” Sato revealed. “She’s part of the more popular groups in our middle school, and rumour has it that she has a fan club amongst the guys.”

“Huh,” Chell absentmindedly muttered. “So, what now? Anything else that needs doing?”

“Nope, that was it,” Sato said, his hands placed in his pockets.

“Okay, well, what do we do now?” Chell asked.

“Have you had breakfast yet?”

“Yeah, at the hotel.”

“Okay, then we can just wander about for a few hours,” Sato suggested. “Pops didn’t ask me to be back for a while, so I don’t think he has anything else for me to do.”

“And Dad is probably going to be talking his ear off,” Chell huffed. “It makes sense that he runs a radio station; he can talk for hours on end without tiring.”

“Pops is the same,” Sato chuckled, “so I doubt they’ll be expecting us back anytime soon.”

“Well, you’re the guide,” Chell prompted, glancing to her side at the teen. “Whereto?”

Whereto seemed to be everywhere within the local areas of the city. From exploring the local mall, walking past rows of shops, and stopping for lunch at his favourite cakery, Sato seemed to have an inexhaustible knowledge of the local businesses.

“And over there is a guy who runs a pawn shop,” Sato explained, pointing across the road at a seemingly rundown building, curtains drawn across the windows. “While nothing he does is illegal, the customers he serves aren’t always the best kind of people.”

“Huh. What about that one, with the checkered streamers along the windows?” Chell asked, pointing at the aforementioned store.

“A complete scam is what he is,” Sato spat, more heat in his voice than Chell had heard before. “He tried to buy some jewellery off Ma for a third of their price. It was only because of a family friend that we realised that we’d been scammed. Pops wasn’t happy, nor was Grandpa or Grandma. The guy was apparently terrified to have three former heroes barge into his shop, demanding he give Ma back the necklace, as well as saying they weren’t going to ruin his business if he swore to never cheat a customer again.”

“That doesn’t sound very heroic,” Chell teased, a good-natured smirk on her face.

“Yeah, Ma said the same thing, but Grandma said that they were doing more good by making sure he didn’t take advantage of anyone else. And the best part was nothing they’d done had been illegal! Grandma would know, after all, since she knows every law, code, and loophole when it comes to hero work.”

They continued to walk as the midafternoon Sun shone down upon them. Chell glanced up ahead, noticing the sprawl of the city in the distance. The skyscrapers of the city centre stood above all others, and in the distance Chell was able to see the towering sight of the city walls.

“I bet it must be great to look out over the city from a high place,” Chell thought aloud.

“Yeah, it is,” Sato agreed. “Especially at night time when the whole city is lit up. Not as much as Tokyo apparently is, but it’s great regardless. Shame there aren’t any good vantage points nearby.”

Chell looked around, noticing a tall office building nearby. Glancing at the top of it, she was the large, colourful form of a billboard, and a grin stretched across her face. Raising her left hand, a streak of blue light shot out, and even if she wasn’t able to see the blue oval, which she could, a feeling in her head told her that the entrance was made.

“Come on,” Chell said, grabbing Sato’s hand and dragging him off to a nearby alley between two blocks of shops.

“Yamada, what are you doing?” Sato asked, only to gasp as Chell held out her right hand, this time forming an orange oval on the alley wall, creating the portal tunnel. Through the portal, Chell and Sato were able to see over the rooftops of the local shops and houses, granting them a sight tens of metres above the street level.

“Chell, even if this is a good sight, using your quirk in public is illegal,” Sato hissed, looking over his shoulder as if an overly eager cop or hero were about to pop out of nowhere.

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Chell grinned, the rush of using her powers almost addicting. Sticking her head through the portal, Chell glanced down from the billboard. The roof of the building was flat, with no cameras or people in sight. A half wall lined the edge of the roof, and the only apparent way down into the building was a small entrance, only enough for the end of a narrow stairway.

“Wait here,” she told Sato, before stepping through the orange portal entrance, allowing gravity to take hold of her, causing her to plummet from the billboard. She landed in a crouch, her implants absorbing the majority of the kinetic energy, as she gave a more scrutinising glance around the roof. Confident that there weren’t any cameras that would spot them, Chell glanced up at the blue-ringed portal entrance, almost laughing at Sato’s shocked expression as he nervously peered through the portal.

“Back up!” Chell called up to him, gesturing with her hands for him to move backwards. His head disappeared from view, allowing Chell to point her left hand at the roof, creating a new portal. She glanced down, seeing Sato seemingly lying flat on the ground, even though she knew it was only thanks to the portals.

“Give me your hand,” she said, crouching down at the edge of the portal, extending her hand through. Sato cautiously reached out, grasping hold tightly as Chell pulled him through, idly thankful for her enhanced strength.

“Woah, okay, that was weird,” Sato admitted, glancing around as the effects of gravity changed around him.

“Come on, the view from up here is way better,” Chell said, walking over to the edge of the building. Without a gram of fear, Chell hopped onto the edge of the building, dropping herself down to allow her feet to dangle over the edge. She heard Sato walking over, though rather than join her on the edge of the building, he decided to lean his forearms against it, looking out over the city.

“What’s middle school like?” Chell asked abruptly.

“What?” Sato said, turning his head to face her. “Where did that come from?”

“School starts in a few days, right?” Chell asked, receiving a nod from Sato. “Well, I’m enrolled at some middle school that Dad picked out for me. And I’ve never been to middle school, or any kind of public school. I mean, I was homeschooled, for a few years at least, but never anything official. So since you’ve already had a year of it, I figured you’d know what to expect.”

Sato mulled over her question before he answered. “Well, it depends on the school you go to, but there are classes, tests, homework, assignments possibly, and lots of studying.”

Chell let out a groan of disappointment, causing Sato to quickly continue.

“But it isn’t all bad,” he hurriedly defended. “There are also clubs that you can join, and school festivals, and other fun activities. And meeting people your own age is fun, right?”

“I guess,” Chell admitted, her legs kicking out in the open air. Silence fell upon the rooftop, Chell and Sato simply embracing the silence, taking in the sounds of the city.

“You’re going to U.A., aren’t you?” Chell asked, though it was less of a question and more of a statement.

“Y-Yeah, I am,” Sato acknowledged. “How did you know?”

“You said that your family always pushes themselves to the limit, never accepting that the limit can’t be pushed back even further,” Chell parroted. “So, it only makes sense that you’d be aiming for the top, right? And that’s U.A.” 

“Shiketsu is also a top hero school,” Sato weakly defended.

“Yeah, but they didn’t produce All Might, or Endeavor, or Best Jeanist,” Chell countered. “I’ve been in this country for only a short amount of time, and even I know that.”

Sato didn’t refute any of her words, simply staring out over the city.

“You’re right,” he admitted. “I’m going to apply for the U.A. Entrance Exam at the beginning of next year. I plan to be one of the thirty two applicants accepted into the hero course.”

“Thirty two?” Chell asked. “I thought they had classes of twenty, so with two hero classes per year, that should be forty.”

“In each class, they reserve two spots for recommended students, who have their own specialised test,” Sato explained. “Then they have another two spots reserved for international transfer students. Every class has that, in fact, from Class A all the way to Class K.”

“Wow, you’ve done your research,” Chell admitted, taking a deep breath as she huffed. “Well, that means that U.A. will have to find thirty more students for their hero course.”

That caught Sato’s attention. “What?!”

“You didn’t know?” Chell smirked. “I plan to apply at U.A. too. My Pai , Uncle, and Aunt all work there as teachers, and they were the ones to give me a life here, so it’s the least I owe them.”

“Are you sure?” Sato cautioned. “Making a choice like that is a big deal.”

“I’m sure,” Chell nodded. “I don’t have some grand, noble purpose for attending like you do. Hell, I’m not even sure WHY I want to be a hero. But I figured, why not? Why not aim for the top? Who knows, I might find a purpose to go there before I take the exam, and if not, I have three years there.”

“It’ll be hard,” Sato stated.

“Nothing easy is ever worth doing,” Chell quoted. “Besides, I think it will be fun to have a friend at U.A.”

“A friend?” Sato asked dumbfounded. “Me?”

“Why not?” Chell shrugged. “You seem fine, you aren’t a creep, and you have more than dreams pushing you forward. You know how dangerous the life of a hero is, and yet you want to do it regardless.”

“Do you know the risks?”

Chell was silent for a moment, thinking over her words. “Dad once said that he lost a friend of his when he was a student at U.A. And my uncle is an underground hero, so he sees the side of the hero life that isn’t all glitz and glamour, as he’d say. So I’m aware of the dangers. But my life has been filled with danger. Can I find something to eat that won’t make me sick? Can I get away from people who want to hurt me? Can I make it through these damn experiments? What’s one more?”

“Besides,” Chell grinned, turning her head to face Sato, “danger is always better when you have a friend by your side.”

Sato looked stunned, only for an amused expression to cross his face.

“That’s crazy,” he chuckled, holding out a closed fist to Chell. “But why not? I have a feeling someone will have to drag you out of a mess, so it might as well be me.”

“Yeah right,” Chell scoffed, tapping her own fist against his.

‘GLaDOS was wrong about me,’ Chell thought to herself as she looked over the city with her new friend. ‘I hope she’s watching from Hell, assuming robots can go there. I’m more than a dangerous lunatic. I’ll be everything she wasn’t, everything she expected me not to be. Someone who helps, rather than hurts; that I’m nothing like her in the slightest.’

I’ve been trawling through the MHA and had a binge of reading through the summaries of the School Briefs light novels. They definitely pad out the “school” part of MHA more than the anime or manga does. I’m thinking about whether or not it’s worth doing stuff from it. There’ll definitely be my own expansions, but who knows, maybe?

Okay, lots to unpack this chapter. To start with, Chell has finally accepted that Hizashi isn’t only her father-figure, but he’s her dad, plain and simple. Her father/sperm donor might have been nonexistent, but as they say, family is what you make it, not who made you. Now, will Chell have a mother figure? Eventually, but as for who, I genuinely bet no one will be able to guess. Won’t come up for a while, hell, maybe not even this year depending on my release schedule and how long certain arcs take, but who knows, she’s coming, I know who she will be, and I know when, and that’s all y’all get. Feel free to guess though, it should be amusing to read.

Also, we got Hizashi addressing some of the issues Chell has. I mean, when you apply for a job, do the job (even if it’s very dangerous, but Chell probably knew what she was signing on for), and are promised a reward for completing it, only to be betrayed? That’ll hurt. For an emotionally starved child who seeks a parental figure, it’s doubly so. So yeah, GLaDOS is heartless. She should have given Chell the cake and saved her the trouble. But instead, we get more Dadzashi.

Also, I’ve been researching a bunch of wrestling moves after I got the inspiration for Rikido to come from a line of wrestling heroes. If anyone didn’t get the references, Rikido is inspired by Kinnikuman from the Kinnikuman manga/anime. Very much a wrestling anime, and the main character (and his son in the later series) has very large lips, so that may have been Horikoshi’s inspiration for Rikido as well as his quirk, since Kinnikuman powers up by eating garlic (raw garlic, yuck). 

For you peeps on Ao3, I’ve also got some artwork to show you, simply for a reference for Rikido’s family members. His grandparents, Mantaro Kinniku and Jaqueline Muscle, have their appearances on the Kinnikuman wiki, so instead I present Sweet Strike and Kanmi Sato (nee Kinniku).

And yes, this does mean that Rikido is going to be a member of Class 1-A. Anyone who has read my other series, My Monster Academia , will know that Rikido Sato, Hanta Sero, and Mashirao Ojiro are my least favourite characters in Class 1-A, simply because they are so boring. However, while Rikido and Hanta got removed from my other series, this time Rikido is sticking it out, simply because I feel he fits in better here. That, and I really liked the lore building I did for his family line. Now, out of Hanta and Mashirao, one of them has to go, and I already know who it is, but will you? Who knows…

Okay, enough chatter, time for reviews.

Kornuptiko: Thanks for reading.

BloodOrKetchup: Not this time…

TheGigaGamer75: Right, I’ll need to clarify this. Chell isn’t an altruistic person by any means. Simply put, she’s a teenage girl experiencing a power trip. Imagine you just received superpowers, powers that you were familiar with how to use, but society tells you that only a certain profession is able to use them. There is also the fact that one of Chell’s biggest examples of a Pro Hero is her adoptive father, Hizashi. All of this adds together resulting in her liking the idea of being a hero, rather than the true values of it. To look at it another way, think of it like a kid who wants to be a firefighter, not because they want to save lives, but because they look up to someone who is a firefighter, and they love fire engines. Even at the end of the chapter, we saw that one of the reasons Chell has to be a hero is simply out of spite, wanting to prove, in her own mind, that she and GLaDOS are nothing alike, and that Chell isn’t what GLaDOS described her as. Hope this makes sense. And yes, while it might have been too obvious, that was my inspiration for Nezu’s name, it was simply his serial number.

i_really_should_be_sleeping: No, but that would be an amusing callback when, not if, but when Chell and GLaDOS meet again. As for your concerns regarding GLaDOS, I can reveal that yes, she will be an important character, though not one of the main ones, she definitely won’t be killed off immediately, no matter how much she deserves it, and she will be making many appearances.

Ste4m3dReader: Watching the Entrance Exam is going to be like seeing your dreams coming true for Chell. That same Entrance Exam is also one of the reasons, even if it is entirely selfish and self centered, for her to attend U.A. She just wants to cut loose and vent some of her anger/frustration/trauma out on those bots. The poor Medibots of U.A. will learn to dread and fear her…

StarWanderer's Writing: While I have nothing concrete or solid planned out yet, I do intend for Adrien Shepherd to make an appearance, and it won’t simply be as a footnote. The G-Man still has him in his back pocket, something NO ONE in the current timeline is aware of, not even Gordon or Alyx, so he’s kind of the G-Man’s secret weapon. As for the main character from Entropy Zero, same as above, I’d like to, I just need to figure out how to include him.

ultima-owner: Oh yeah, G-Man was making sure that all of the pieces were in the right place. Those Aperture Science guys would have been having some very weird dreams filled with ideas and schematics. 

Atromitos1526: Glad you liked my characterisation of the G-Man, in my mind he’s always had this smug, condescending feeling about him. Since he is regarded as a god amongst men in the future, it makes sense why. As for your idea with Shoto, it genuinely made me giggle while reading it. Hell, I might have Shoto meet up with grindy_rust_rustbucket (Guest)’s OC, a conspiracy theorist who everyone thinks is mad, but we the audience know she’s dead on the money, somehow. I imagine the two of them would come up with some wild theories.

grindy_rust_rustbucket (Guest): While I didn’t include either events, Chell did get to watch (with much glee, I must add) the prospective applicants of U.A. tearing through their robotic opponents. As for her cake, after she and Rikido got back to Sato Sweets, Chell decided to have a Black Forest Cake, since that was the one shown at the end of Portal 1. So rest assured, Chell finally got her cake.

123 (Guest): I can honestly see Chell spending some time at the Support Course workshops simply for these reasons, as well as hanging out with [Error, Major Spoilers]. For some reason, I completely see Hizashi trying to make a rap filled with as many paradoxes as possible. 

And that’s about it. As is customary, your sneak peek for next chapter, the title is called ‘ School Struggle ’. Chell has some difficulties at school, naturally, and we also meet a new member of Chell and Rikido’s future friend group, my new O.C.!

See you next time…

- Jevm

Chapter Text

Tokyo, Japan

In the capital of Japan, the city of Tokyo, spring was off to an early start. Already, the chill winds of winter had retreated north, and the trees of the city reflected this, budding flowers scattered across their once barren branches, with the occasional eager leaf already waving in the light breeze. The Sun shone down from above, warming the land beneath it as the celestial body hung at its zenith. It was midday, and Ida Tenya was on patrol.

The spectacled young man was more than aware of the comments and views many of his contemporaries had of him. They called him a stickler for the rules, a teacher’s pet, and a disciplinarian. As if any of those terms could insult him. 

He took pride in his adherence to the rules, and made sure to ensure those around him followed said rules. It was part of his routine during lunch as a member of Somei Private Academy’s student council to enforce the rules of their institution of learning, instructing some of his female classmates to wear their uniform correctly, confiscating contraband from students who were caught smoking behind the gymnasium, or occasionally breaking up the odd scuffle. It was after reminding a group of gyarus, again, that their choice of accessories with their uniform violated Somei’s dress code that a stern voice called out to Tenya.

“Ida,” the voice said, coming from an incoming student. He was a male student, his black hair cut short and swept to the side, keeping it out of his face. His appearance was relatively plain, with no obvious mutations giving away what his quirk could be. Like Tenya, his uniform was immaculate, with the only difference to the standard uniform being the yellow armband around his left arm, marking him as a member of the student council. The same armband that Tenya proudly wore.

“Tairitsu,” Tenya bowed lightly in greeting to the student council’s vice-president. “How may I help you?”

“I’ve detected a conflict happening near the maintenance shed,” the vice-president explained. “Since you are able to get there the fastest, I’d like you to investigate it.”

“Do you think it’s another fight?” Tenya asked, his right hand chopping through the air, a tick of his whenever he was anxious, agitated, or irritated. In this instance, it was the latter, the mere thought of students fighting on school grounds angering him.

“It’s possible,” Taritsu shrugged. “Could be a fight, or it could simply be a lover’s spat. All I know is that my quirk picked it up, so it’s better just to be sure.”

“Of course,” Tenya nodded, bending down to the ground, rolling up his pant legs. “By your leave, I shall investigate it.”

“Good luck!” Taritsu called out as Tenya’s Engine quirk located in his calves roared to life, propelling him forward. For any other student, the use of their quirks on school grounds were strictly prohibited, the mere act of it enough for a suspension, while using it to fight someone was grounds for immediate expulsion. However, as a member of Somei’s student council, Tenya was privy to special exemptions, the use of his quirk in a non-combative manner being one of them.

Should anyone else have tried to make it from behind the cafeteria to the maintenance shed, even when running it would take them the better part of five minutes. For Tenya, however, his Engine quirk allowed him to make the journey in just over a minute.

As he approached the groundskeeper’s shed, which were meant to be off limits to students anyway, Tenya heard the sounds of fists impacting against flesh, the grunts of pain, and the thuds of bodies collapsing onto the ground.

“Alright, what’s going on here?!” Tenya yelled as he rounded the corner, quickly taking in the scene. The fight was nearly over, three groaning, barely conscious male students laying on the ground, while their fourth accomplice had found his arm twisted behind his back, pressed up against the shed, his face squished against the metal with a hand to the back of his head. Tenya immediately recognised the student by his face, one Sendō Heikin, a known bully in the school. His hair was bleached blond, slicked back with hair product, and he was currently dressed in his shirt, his blazer discarding on the ground nearby. 

“Damn it, Ida,” the student growled, thrashing and bucking against his captor’s grip. “Get this bitch off me!”

Tenya’s gaze switched over to the person who stood out amongst the group of male delinquents, due to her female nature. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, stray bangs framing her face. Her skin was tan, less due to her spending too much time in the Sun, but because of her mixed ethnicity. She was also tall for a girl, though Tenya knew and was able to see that that was because she walked on the balls of her feet, supported by implants that jutted from the back of her knees. Unlike the male delinquents who surrounded her, she wore all of her uniform, though it was ruffled and untidy.

“Yamada, let him go,” Tenya ordered sternly. “You know that picking a fight on school grounds is against the rules.”

“Didn’t pick the fight,” Yamada answered, her words curt and short. She jerked her head to the side, indicating towards the downed bullies. “They started it. I finished it.”

“You gonna believe this fucking gaijin?!” Sendō yelled. “She’s lying, just like her old man!”

Yamada growled at that, twisting Sendō’s arm even higher up his back, causing the blond delinquent to yelp in pain.

“That’s enough!” Tenya barked, striding forward, getting himself close enough to intervene if necessary, but not so close that Yamada would feel cornered. It had nothing to do with caring for her feelings, however, but plain practicality. Ever since she had arrived at the beginning of the school year, Yamada had made waves in the academy. Aside from the fact that, like Tenya, she was the daughter of a Pro Hero, albeit adopted, Yamada was famous for specifically how she wound up being the Voice Hero’s daughter. All of the tabloids and gossip papers talked about a group of U.A. teachers who had raided a secret facility, with an Outlander girl being the only survivor of the captives. The young Yamada had quickly gained a reputation of a wild child in the school. That wasn’t to say that she was unintelligent or feral, not even Tenya would say that, but she was quick to anger, easily provoked and challenged, stubborn to a fault, and rarely gave up a grudge.

‘How such a thin girl like her is so strong continues to puzzle me,’ Tenya idly thought as he grew tired of Yamada’s stubbornness, placing a firm hand on her shoulder. “Let. Him. Go.”

Yamada’s eyes narrowed as she glanced at him from the side of her eyes, her lips thinning. Her muscles tensed, and before Tenya was able to pull her away, she pulled Sendō’s head back before viciously slamming it forward into the sheet metal wall. She let go of the delinquent, allowing his limp, unconscious body to fall to the ground, his head sliding down the wall of the shed, leaving behind a small trail of blood.

“There, I let him go,” Yamada said, rounding to face Tenya head on. “Happy? Can I go and find someplace to finish my lunch?”

“You, I, why do you think I’d be happy?!” Tenya stammered, one hand gesturing to the unconscious students while the other began chopping the air. “You’ve gone against academy rules!”

“I only defended myself,” Yamada objected, her arms crossed against her chest. “They threw the first punch, so it’s self defense. You have a problem with it, run to your little student council buddies. See if I care.”

“I’m sure they’ll have something to say about it,” Tenya muttered. “You’ve crossed the line, Yamada. Fighting with your quirk is grounds for expulsion.”

“No quirk,” Yamada argued, and even though he couldn’t see her, Tenya could hear her smug expression. “Uncle Shota says that quirks reflect a person’s behaviour. Dad loves to make noise and be heard, Uncle Shota loves to even things out, and I love being free and boundless. I guess your family’s quirk means you’re great at being a messenger, or a herding dog!”

Tenya froze mid-footstep, prompting Yamada to continue. 

“Because that’s what your brother is. He herds the villains towards his sidekicks, they take them out, but he reaps all the rewards!”

Tenya’s fists clenched, a barely suppressed snarl on his face as he turned to face the rebellious student.

“Say that again,” he whispered.

Yamada took it as a challenge, a smirk growing on her face. “Make me. You’re half as good as your brother, and he lost to a bat three times.”

Tenya’s vision went red, an indignant roar leaving his lips as the engines in his legs roared to life, throwing himself at the smirking girl.

-]l[-

Hizashi wasn’t happy. He had gotten the call during his lunch break that his daughter had gotten into a fight at school, but because of the classes he still had to teach, he’d have to meet with the principal of Somei Private Academy after school was over. 

On the train ride home, Hizashi was a mixture of nervous and furious. Shota had offered to accompany him, both as emotional support as well as in case Hizashi had to be held back, but he declined. After the incident in Kyoto, he wasn’t willing to add more fuel to the rumour fire of there being some sort of relationship between the two of them.

After dropping his things off, changing into some riding gear, and hopping onto Loud Cloud, Hizashi was roaring off down the roads, heading straight for his daughter’s school. Pulling into a parking lot within the school grounds, Hizashi walked through the front doors of the reception, and after some quick directions from the receptionist manning the desk, walked through the corridors towards the principal’s office.

“Come on, kid,” Hizashi grumbled to himself. “I know you're having trouble fitting in, but really? I’m called to the principal’s office in the first month?”

As Hizashi neared the principal's office, he noticed a figure standing near the doorway, leaning against the wall that faced the office. He was about as tall as Hizashi, maybe a little shorter, with short, spiky blue hair, and covered in sleek, aerodynamic white armour, his helmet held at his waist.

As Hizashi got closer, the man looked up, a small smile on his face as he nodded to Hizashi.

“Present Mic,” the man said, looking slightly confused. “Why are you here? I didn’t realise you were an alma mater of Somei Academy.”

“Ha, there’s no way I’d have been able to go to a fancy place like this, Ingenium,” Hizashi laughed, coming to lean on the wall next to the Turbo Hero. “I’m not here for me, I’m here for my daughter. ‘Parently she got into some kinda scrap with another kid. I love the kid, really, I do, but couldn’t she have gone longer than a month before I had to be called in?”

“Ah, right, you did adopt a child recently,” Ingenium nodded. “I’m here for the same thing, actually, funnily enough.”

“You’ve got a kid?!” Hizashi exclaimed, his head snapping around in shock. “Since when?!”

“No no no, sorry, my mistake,” Ingenium laughed, the back of his head gently thudding against the wall. “I’m here for my younger brother. Our parents are busy up in Sapporo, so it fell to me to come and meet Principal Kyūjo.”

“Right, gotcha,” Hizashi nodded, the sound of creaky hinges causing his eyes to look up. A short, portly man stood in the doorway, dressed in an immaculate three piece suit, his gray hair combed backwards, exposing the pair of floppy, canine ears that sat atop his head.

“Mr Ida and Mr Yamada?” the man asked. 

Hizashi and Ingenium both nodded in response, causing the man to step forward, his hand held out to them.

“I’m Principal Kyūjo, if you could both step into my office, we can discuss what has happened there.”

Hizashi and Ingenium both followed the principal, stepping into his office. A bookshelf took up one of the far walls, the spines of the books covering a wide range of colours and topics. Photos of the principal with fellow teachers and students covered the walls, many of them with students either holding up trophies or certificates. The principal's desk was made of dark wood, polished to a shine, with a monitor placed in the centre with papers and files scattered next to it. Facing his desk were four chairs, with Chell and another kid her age seated. He had blue hair, just like Ingenium, and resembled the Pro Hero quite a lot, with the only noticeable difference being that the student was wearing glasses.

‘Ah crap, so that’s what happened,’ Hizashi sighed in his mind, taking a seat next to his daughter, finding himself sitting next to Ingenium, due to the two students sitting in chairs as far away from each other as possible.

“Let me guess, it was Ida Jr who my daughter got into a fight with, right?” Hizashi asked, with the principal nodding in confirmation.

“While it wasn’t the only fight she was involved in, it was the most pressing one,” Principal Kyūjo vaguely answered. “The pair of them were found by Tairitsu, the vice-president of Somei’s student council, mid-fight.”

“God damn it,” Hizashi groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Really, Tenya?” Ingenium asked, glancing at his younger brother with a disappointed expression. “You got into a fight, rather than being the bigger person and walking away?”

“But she insulted you, Tensei!” the young man protested, only for his defense to crumble under Ingenium’s withering gaze.

“So you threw the first punch then?” the hero said, demanding an answer. The younger Ida’s silence was answer enough.

“Principal Kyūjo, I’m sincerely sorry for my younger brother’s actions,” Ingenium apologised, bowing his head and pushing his younger brother’s head down in a similar bow. “You must understand, this isn’t like him.”

“Your brother’s not the only one at fault,” Hizashi admitted, glancing at Chell, watching as her crossed arms tensed, pulling into herself. “Chell, did you start the fight?”

She was silent for a moment, before letting out a slow breath, her body losing its tension as she nodded. 

“Okay, there we are,” Hizashi nodded, glancing between the principal and the Pro Hero. “Both of them were at fault; I’ll even go as far and say they were equally to blame for this. Sounds good to you, Ingenium?”

“I think that’s quite agreeable,” the hero nodded, glancing back over to the principal. “That being said, sir, how will they be punished for this?”

The principal left out a deep sigh, his shoulder sagging. “Normally, this would be grounds for suspension; a week at least. However, they are both promising members of their hero studies classes, and it is no secret they both desire to attend UA. I’m willing to chalk this up to emotions running wild and children allowing an increase in their power and responsibility going to their heads. They will both be serving detention for a week, but since that is a more informal process, it won’t show up on their records.”

Hizashi and Ingenium glanced at each other, both nodding in agreement. 

“That sounds fine,” Ingenium said, speaking for the both of them.

“Very well then, Ida Tensei and Ida Tenya, you may leave now. Young Ida will be contacted about when and where he will serve his detention.”

The two brothers stood up from their chairs, bowing to the principal, before leaving.

“Okay, so what’s the deal?” Hizashi asked, his eyes narrowing at the principal. “Why’d you want us to stay behind?”

“To be frank, Mr Yamada, this isn’t the first fight young Yamada has been in,” Principal Kyūjo explained. “Aside from the two today, one with young Ida and one just before it, she has been involved in four other instances of fighting.”

“Yeah, I know, you call me every time it happens,” Hizashi said. “Kids fight all the time in middle school, you know?”

“Yes, well, maybe in middle schools that you’ve been to, Mr Yamada, but we at Somei Private Academy like to pride ourselves on holding our students to a higher standard,” the principal explained.

“The hells that meant to mean?”

“All I’m saying is that young Yamada has started a fair few-”

“THEY started it,” Chell stressed, speaking up for the first time since Hizashi entered the room. “It’s never me. I’m just trying to be left alone, but it's always them picking the fight. Not my fault they’re weak.”

The principal was silent, mulling over his words as his mouth opened and closed, short breaths of air indicating that he was about to start speaking, only to stop himself and reconsider.

“Is this true, Principal Kyūjo?” Hizashi asked, his eyes narrowing.

“Well, yes, technically-”

“Then I don’t see the problem,” Hizashi interrupted, his arms crossing against his chest. “If these students are the ones starting the fights, then I don’t see the problem.”

“All I’m suggesting is that maybe young Yamada needs some time away from her classmates to let things simmer down,” the principal suggested, a nervous smile on his face.

“Okay, and what about the kids that started the fight?” Hizashi asked.

“Pardon?”

“The kids who started these fights with my daughter, what punishment will they receive?”

“Uh, well-”

“Nothing,” Chell answered. “They’re never punished. I get scolded in front of the class or pulled aside after class, but nothing happens to them. Even when I tell the teachers, nothing changes.”

“Well, nothing has been alerted to me, so-”

“But you’ve been alerted now,” Hizashi pointed out. “You know now that my daughter isn’t starting any of these fights, only defending herself, so what are you going to do?”

Principal Kyūjo’s mouth opened and closed, like a fish stuck on dry land.

“I’ll bring it up with the other teachers next time we all convene,” he finally answered. “However, I still recommend young Yamada to take a short break. I’m aware that this is the first time she’s been taught in a school, so the stress of a new environment may be taking a toll on her mental health.”

Hizashi’s fists clenched, his jaw tightening as he heard the bullshit spill from the principal’s mouth.

“Thank you for your time, Principal Kyūjo,” he said, standing up from his seat. “It was a good use of my time, really.”

He didn’t bow or offer his hand to shake, simply walking through the doorway, only pausing to hold it open for Chell, the two of them making their way out of the academy in silence. Hopping onto Loud Cloud, Hizashi handed Chell a helmet before donning his own, the motorcycle roaring to life as Chell sat behind him, her head leaning against his back.

“You know I don’t need a helmet, right?” Chell said, her voice coming through the radio that Hizashi had asked Power Loader from the Support Course to install. “It’s not like this kind of speed would hurt me all that much.”

“Better safe than sorry, kiddo,” Hizashi answered as only a parent could.

They continued in silence, even though the ride itself was anything but. The wind whipping by, the ambient noise of a busy city, and the whooshing sound of them racing past cars filled the air.

“Why do they pick on you?” Hizashi finally asked when they had stopped at an intersection, idly watching as different lanes of traffic had their turn.

“Because they’re all rich, and they look down on me,” Chell quietly answered, her arms tightening around his waist. “They think they’re better than me because their parents are CEOs or company presidents or politicians. Just brought up bad memories, from back then.”

“From Brazil?”

Chell hummed through the microphone, her healmed head rubbing against his back as she nodded.

“And you don’t think the school will do anything about it?” Hizashi asked.

“They never do,” Chell answered, a scowl in her voice. “I’m not the only kid who they pick on, but they never get more than a verbal scolding. I’m just the only one who’s willing to fight back.”

Hizashi didn’t know how to respond, opting to simply pat Chell’s hands, showing that he was listening and cared. The rest of the ride home was done in silence, pulling up into the garage as Loud Cloud’s engine shut off. Chell handed her helmet to Hizashi, shucking off her school bag to carry it in one hand, walking up into the house. Hizashi busied himself with packing things away and closing the garage door, but as he followed after his daughter, his eyes landed on the doorway that led into his recording booth that he used to broadcast his radio station. His eyes widened and a smirk grew on his face as an idea began to form in his head.

“Hey, Chell, could you come here for a sec?!” Hizashi called out through the house, the soft sound of footfalls quickly drawing closer as Chell walked in.

“What?” she sighed, looking up at him with a tired expression. 

Hizashi grinned, jabbing his thumb towards his sound booth. “You said that the school won't do anything because those kids have rich parents. Do you think they’ll change their mind when everyone hears about it?”

“What?” Chell gasped, and Hizashi couldn’t help but grin as he saw a mischievous light enter her eyes.

“Don’t you know?” he grinned. “I run one of the most popular radio stations in all of Japan! What d’ya say, Chell? Wanna make this story go viral?”

A grin bloomed across Chell’s face, her hands bunched into fists out of excitement. “Yeah!”

-]l[-

New York, United Cities of America

Eli Vance, son of Alyx and Gordon Vance, sighed as he sat slumped at his desk, gazing longingly out of the classroom window. It was April, and the spring bloom had begun with the trees at his school. And yet despite the incredible weather, which was also pleasantly warm for this time of year, Eli Vance was stuck inside, half paying attention to some history lesson from his teacher. It wasn’t as if he was a bad student, the opposite in fact, regularly placing near the top of the class. The issue was with the subject that Ms Emmit was teaching.

He couldn’t help find history about the Occupation of Earth to be hard to focus on, not when he knew all of the major events that occurred. The March of Moscow, the Last Stand of Karachi, all major events in the history books. He even knew about the more obscure stories, like how five hundred resistance fighters’ lives were saved because one man managed to sneak his way out of City 205, now called by its old name of Sydney, and survived the journey across the Australian wilds, surviving against both Terran and Xenian creatures, a rare instance where Xenian creatures hadn’t wiped out the native fauna. 

It wasn’t that Eli found Post Seven Hour War history boring, there just wasn’t much that he found new or exciting. He honestly felt that attending the class was a waste of his time, that he could make much better use of it as an independent study period. But there was no way he’d be able to skip class; his mother would have a fit if he did that.

“Alright, everyone,” Ms Emmit said, her voice causing Eli to jolt back into the present. “Before you leave, remember to place your essays on the resistance cells that operated across Germany.”

Her reminder caused a chorus of groans and complaints as the fragile hopes and dreams of students praying that she’d forgotten about their essay being mercilessly crushed.

“Yes yes, you aren’t happy, I’ve heard it all before,” Ms Emmit dismissed, standing by the doorway with her hand extended, only allowing students to pass once their essay was handed in. “And if anyone ‘forgot’ to bring it in, then you’re in luck! You have all of lunch to get it written up.”

Even louder complaints and pleading offers sounded out from certain members of the class, their various displays of distress and regret showing who had either forgotten or had procrastinated with writing their essays.

Eli, as usual, wasn’t in their camp, handing over his essay to his teacher and giving her a quiet “Thank you” as he walked out into the noisy corridor. Both hands dug deep into his hoodie pockets, Eli made his way through the maze of students lingering and loitering within the hallways, all heading in a mess of directions. Eli, rather than heading towards the cafeteria like many of his peers, headed out of a side door, entering into the cool air of the school field. The air was cold, but the sunlight that shone down warmed his body; it was still cold enough to justify wearing jeans and a hoodie, but warm enough that he’d have to lose a layer of clothing if he wanted to do some exercise.

He made his way across the grass, nodding to some friendly acquaintances from other classes, snickering as he saw Michael John impressing his group of friends by performing aerial tricks, his pure white wings tucked close as he corkscrewed through the air, and even from here Eli could barely see the white feathers on his classmate’s wings ruffling in the breeze. All around him, in fact, Eli was able to see some of his peers using their powers. Many of them were using them for minor things, such as Belinda Gear using her levitation to float in the air, her friends slowly moving her napping form along with them. Others, like the Cha siblings, Katherine and Paul, were using their duplication powers to create soccer teams composed of multiple versions of themselves, this time apparently deciding to mix up the teams, rather than the usual Katherines against Pauls. 

“Eli, over here!” a voice called out, drawing Eli’s attention from the impending soccer match. Looking around, his gaze focused on a pair of students sitting on a bench, both of them waving him over. Eli grinned, picking up the pace as he lightly jogged over, nodding to his two closest friends. “Hi Liam, Gabriel. How was algebra?”

“Uh, please don’t talk about algebra,” Liam moaned, his hands cradling his head. “Some of the questions didn’t even have numbers in them, only letters! Who the hell creates a math problem but forgets to add the math?!” 

Liam had a typical build for a teenage male Human, more lanky than skinny, with a messy mop of brown hair crowning his head. Unlike Eli, who wore clothing that covered him almost entirely from head to toe, Liam wore only a pair of beige shorts and a maroon t-shirt, with a pair of worn-in sneakers covering his feet. 

“They were not too difficult,” Gabriel, a Vortigaunt, said with a rumbling voice, yet it strangely portrayed his youthfulness. “You merely need to ask, and I shall assist you.”

Gabriel, like all Vortigaunts, had pale, greenish-brown skin, with a single large red eye in the centre of his head, with smaller eyes ringed around it. He wore simple clothing, modified to accommodate his physique as a Vortigaunt, with a hole in the middle of his shirt allowing his third arm to poke through. 

“Thanks, Gabriel,” Liam smiled as Eli took his seat on the bench, sitting at the far end next to Liam. “So, what have we all brought today?”

“I have an Antlion steak, paired with a side of sliced Xen Stalks,” Gabriel answered, opening his lunch box and unleashing the tantalising scent of an excellently marinated Antlion steak.

“Oh man, that smells great,” Liam drooled, clearly desperate for a bite, but for the sake of his friendship held himself back. “You’re so lucky to have parents who run a meat house, Gabriel. No wonder they’ve constantly got booked out tables; no one makes Antlion steaks as good as your mother does!”

“I’d say it’s pretty obvious where you want your birthday celebration this year then,” Eli grinned, nudging Liam with his elbow jokingly. “Don’t you get tired of having it at the same place, year after year?”

“No way!” Liam exclaimed. “How could I get tired of it?! The smoky flavour, the exotic taste of both Terran and Xenian ingredients, what’s not to love?!”

“Fair, fair,” Eli chuckled, revealing his own lunch. “Not much to say for mine; just a basic peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Simple, basic, but tasty nonetheless.”

“Boring~” Liam exaggeratedly groaned. “Not that I’m much better. I’ve got a Headcrab burger.”

“Oo, yum,” Eli said, Gabriel nodding his head in agreement. “But sorry, Liam, I think Gabriel wins this one.”

“Nah, no worries, he’d won no matter what when he brought out that heavenly stake,” Liam shrugged, taking a bite out of his burger, Eli and Gabriel taking that as their cue to eat as well, the trio growing silent as they ate.

After finishing their lunch and with plenty of time still before their final classes for the day, they quickly began chatting about anything and everything, simply enjoying the time spent with friends.

“Oh, okay, how about this,” Liam proposed, glancing at his friends. “All Might or Star and Stripe; who do you think would win?”

“Star and Stripe would be my choice,” Gabriel decided. “Though All Might was her mentor, the Soul Key that The One Free Man gifted her is simply too powerful. She is able to enforce her will upon reality, while All Might is merely the strongest Human.”

“Yep, that was my thinking,” Liam nodded. “Eli, what do you think?”

“I don’t know,” Eli admitted, glancing off into the distance. “Star and Stripe is awesome, don’t get me wrong, and I do think she could win, but All Might would put up one hell of a fight. Does Star and Stripe have her squadron of X-66 fighters with her?”

“Sure, why not.”

“Oh, then Star and Stripe for certain,” Eli decided, quickly changing his tune. “All Might is powerful, but as Gabriel said, he’s the strongest Human. That’s his power, super strength and speed. Flight isn’t one of them, and that would probably be the difference.”

“Makes sense,” Liam nodded. “Okay then, um, if you could study overseas somewhere, where would it be?”

“The holy city of Sofia,” Gabriel immediately answered with a fervent voice. “To study and learn in the city where The One Free Man returned would truly be a blessing. While I will make the pilgrimage one day, to study there would be wonderful.”

“I’d love to study in Australia,” Liam declared. “Warm weather, sandy beaches, and minimal clothing is normal! What isn’t to love?!”

“You never change, Liam,” Eli chuckled. “I think I might like to study in Japan.”

Liam and Gabriel quickly fell silent, staring at Eli in shock.

“Holy shit, you weren’t joking when you said it,” Liam gasped.

“This one also thought the Eli were jesting,” Gabriel added, so shocked that he reverted back into his people’s ancient dialect of English.

“Hey, what’s wrong with studying in Japan?” Eli protested.

“Eli, you know that they’re,” Liam began, looking around as if someone would hear him, “Soul Suppressors, right?”

“Well, yeah, kind of.”

“I mean, they call their powers ‘quirks’!” Liam continued. “‘Quirks’! What kind of term is that?!”

“To compare their Soul Key, their divine gift from The One Free Man, as a minor part of their being, rather than their most exalted aspect is heretical,” Gabriel growled.

“Yeah, and not only that, but they're discriminatory,” Liam added. “I hear that Vortigaunts and those whose powers alter their body are hunted down in the city outskirts and treated like monsters. And if I went there, people who live in the city centres, you know, where most of the people are, would look down upon me simply because I’m a normal Human.”

“I struggle to imagine a society where those blessed with a Soul Key from The One Free Man would persecute those born without one,” Gabriel said. “Were not those who The One Free Man saved ordinary Humans too? Should the Vortigaunt have tried to subjugate Humans simply because we unlocked our Vortessence before your kind? No, and yet they who were looked down upon in the years after The Great Enslavers were bested are now the ones who look down. It is illogical.”

“And it’s not as if you just want to study there,” Liam said. “You want to be a hero, right? Why there of all places? Why not up north with the Canadian Union, or anywhere else?”

“Well, you know, I’m really good at Japanese, and sure, the country is really restrictive in terms of their citizens’ rights, but they have a really low crime rate,” Eli defended. “With All Might there, they don’t have many supervillains, just regular criminals who use quirks for the most part. I mean, they haven’t even had an S-Rank villain in over a decade! A decade! When was the last time a villain was made an S-Rank here?”

“Appalachian Avalanche,” Gabriel answered. “That was four years ago.”

“Right, but in Japan, because that’s where All Might is active, the last S-Rank there was Toxic Chainsaw,” Eli explained. “And besides, I’m well aware of the issues that the country is having. However, UA has an international student program where they accept four international students into their Hero Course every year. I figured if I go Pro there, I can change the country from the inside out, and make it a better place for everyone; Humans, Vortigaunts, those with Soul Keys and those without.”

“An admirable goal,” Gabriel nodded. “I pray that The One Free Man looks over you, guides you, and favours you in your endeavors.”

“Heh, yeah, thanks, Gabriel,” Eli said, trying desperately to control the conflict in his mind. Fortunately, neither of his friends noticed, and the conversation continued as normal. Soon enough, the bell rang throughout the school, signalling an end to lunch and the beginning of the final classes for the day. Both of them, Physical Education and English, passed by without much fanfare or difficulty, and the end of the school day quickly arrived.

Eli was fortunate that he lived nearby, close enough to walk and it not be a hassle to get home without public transportation. Travelling along the same route as always, he began to hear the cries of a loud voice from up ahead. As he drew closer, he saw that it was a preacher of the Freed, a Human with broken shackles attached to his wrist, the chains flailing about as he gestured animatedly in the air as he preached.

“Rejoice, we chosen people, we lucky kin! The Messenger in the Dark, He Who Dwells in the Void, has spoken to us! Across the globe, the faithful tell of His approach in their dreams, declaring the message of The One Free Man’s return! For within a year’s time, The One Free Man shall make His appearance, his triumphant return! Our era of darkness is over, this long night of the blind leading the blind! For a god shall return to us once more, guiding Terrans, Humans and Vortigaunt both, into a new era of freedom, one from which The Great Enslavers can never take from us, can never threaten us, and never enchain us, ever again!”

The preacher continued his message, his loud, captivating voice drawing in the attention of all nearby, crowds and gatherings forming, whispering to each other on what was being said. While some were doubtful, and others entirely dismissive, most were hopeful, the prophecy that was long awaited nearing its supposed end. And while the general emotions of those gathered was overwhelmingly positive, Eli simply tried to keep his head down and unnoticed, trying desperately to ignore the growing panic in his soul.

‘I’m not ready,’ he thought to himself as he moved through the crowds. ‘Why now?! Why not in a few more years?! Why is He saying I’ll make my appearance soon?! Don’t I get a choice in the matter?!’

But no matter what he thought, no answer came to him, no revelation to calm his racing heart. 

Arriving home, Eli opened the gate, looking up as he heard the synthetic barks of an excited dog. Lolloping over, Eli saw Dog, his mother’s mechanical pet and companion, racing over to greet him just the same as he did any other day that Eli came home.

“Hey, boy,” Eli greeted, rubbing Dog’s metallic head, causing the robot to bark as it pressed his head into Eli’s palm. He had seen the images of what Dog looked like before he was born, when Dog seemed to have been made out of scrap metal and salvaged parts. Nowadays, however, Dog’s metallic body was shiny and chrome, each of his metal plates polished to a gleam. Well, they would be if Dog wasn’t so fond of rolling about in the dirt and mud. Despite his synthetic nature, Dog acted just as much as his namesake as any other canine, even if he was eight feet tall and was strong enough to throw a car. But to Eli, none of that mattered; he was Dog, his family’s lovable, protective pet.

“I’ll be out in a minute, boy, just let me put my things away,” Eli said, walking towards the main door of the house.

Dog gave out a small whine, but let him go, racing off around the house to play with some contraption his mother had likely made for her companion. 

Stepping through the front door, Eli tossed his bag into a corner, pulling off his hoodie and throwing it on top of the discarded bag.

“Mom!” he called out, yelling into the house. “I’m home, I’m just outside playing with Dog!”

“Okay!” came the distant voice of his mother further within their home.

Nodding to himself now that his mother knew he was home, Eli stepped back outside, wandering around the side of the house as he looked around for something he could use to play with Dog. Upon reaching what was essentially a scrapyard located behind his house, courtesy of his mother constantly requesting new parts to experiment with, Eli spied a loose tire that rested against a piece of sheet metal. Reaching out his hand as he drew closer, Eli felt the thrum of his power course through his outstretched hand, the tire shooting out into the air before coming to a stop in front of his hand, floating in the air mere inches away from his palm.

“Dog, come out!” Eli called. Further into the scrapyard, the sounds of metal falling against each other could be heard, along with the sound of an excited dog. The mechanical creature leapt over a pile of metal, crashing down in front of Eli, a cloud of dust shooting up into the air.

“Nice landing,” Eli coughed, his body reflexively trying to remove the dust he had breathed in. “Now, how about we play fetch?”

Dog’s head lowered to his large hands, his hind legs raised into the air as the machine’s cycloptic eye was laser focused on the tire that levitated in front of Eli. If he had a tail, Eli was sure it’d be spinning like a propellor.

“Ready?” he said, raising his hand, the tire pointed towards the horizon. “Go fetch!”

The gravitational force that held the tire in midair was suddenly reversed, repelling the wheel of rubber and metal away like a cork out of a bottle, shooting out into the junkyard. Dog sprang into action, racing after the retreating tire, and though he disappeared from sight, Eli was able to clearly hear his movement through the scrapyard, the clattering of falling debris mixed with barks excited from the hunt. After a moment, a louder, more excited series of barks rang out, letting Eli know that Dog had managed to finally find the tire. More clattering noise was heard as Dog raced back through the junkyard, this time skipping around a corner, the tire firmly held in his mechanical jaws. The machine dropped the tire at Eli’s feet, his head moving the tire forwards as he let out a synthetic whine.

“Alright, again,” Eli grinned, the tire once more shooting up to levitate in front of his hand. “Ready? And, go!”

Dog raced after the tire as it sailed through the air, and the simple pleasure of playing with his dog caused laughter to burst from Eli’s lips, both master and creature eager to continue playing their game.

-]l[-

Eli’s eyes opened. Even though he was surrounded by darkness, as he looked down at his body, he realised that it wasn’t darkness, but simply an absence of anything. After all, he was able to see his body perfectly fine, dressed in the same clothes that he wore to bed.

“So it’s another one of those nights,” Eli thought out loud, looking around. “Mister? I know you’re there! You’re the only one who does this!”

“Most people would be more respectful,” a teasing voice called out from the nothingness. Eli looked around, hoping that this time he’d be able to spot the Messenger’s arrival, but as always, a finger tapped on the back of his shoulder, causing Eli to whirl around, the man having appeared behind him.

“One of these days I’ll see you arriving,” Eli challenged with a grin. “So, what’s up?”

“Nothing is up, nor is anything down,” the man cryptically answered. “After all, we are the only things of matter in this portion of unreality. However, if you mean to say why I brought you here, I do believe that it is you who has something to say.”

Eli frowned, slightly annoyed, as always, by the man’s words.

“Why have you appeared to members of the Freed?” he asked, his face set into a frown. “I’m not ready to be what they want of me.”

“You’ll never be ready for what they want,” the man answered. “Humans and Vortigaunts will always desire more. If a god performs a miracle for them often enough, they will begin to take it for granted, viewing it as a part of everyday life. But the moment the god decides that something doesn’t require a miracle, the people who have grown so accustomed to it will rage and rant against the one they worshipped mere moments ago. The trick is to show them enough to please them, but not so much that they become accustomed.”

“But why now?” Eli asked. “Why not in a decade?”

“Because you won’t reveal yourself in a decade from now,” the man answered. “You will voluntarily reveal your power, your nature, the mantle you wear, for all to see. You will publicly declare that you are The One Free Man, reborn in this generation. I will have no part in it. I’m merely informing those who need to know about what will happen.”

“Yeah right,” Eli huffed. Even though every single one of the man’s predictions had been exact, there was always a first time for something. “Can you at least tell me where it will happen, and why?”

“Oh, why do that when it will spoil the surprise,” the man smirked, snapping his fingers as a whiteboard appeared in midair, floating as if gravity didn’t exist. “Now, time for why I brought you here; it’s time for another lesson.”

“Oh, not another one!” Eli complained. “Can’t we do some training with my power, my Soul Key? I haven’t done that in ages!”

“If you wish to study in Japan, to enroll in UA, you must be the best,” the man answered. “Your power is already potent enough to pass the practical portion of the tests, but you also need to be academically smart. Even though the Hero Course of UA places special emphasis on your combat capabilities, the written test will all be in Japanese. Thus, you must be fluent in the spoken language, as well as all three alphabets of the language.”

“Alright,” Eli sighed, flopping down onto the chair that he knew would have been placed behind him. As he was seated, a table appeared, not unlike the tables that his school used, as well as a notebook and a freshly sharpened pencil.

“Excellent,” the man nodded, a pointing stick appearing in his hands. “Now, we shall start with some lessons on kanji that you are likely to encounter…”

Phew, one of the longest chapters I’ve written for this series in a while. This chapter also marks the end of the ‘Acclimation’ arc of the series, basically Chell getting her feet back underneath her. Of course, this means that we’re heading straight into the UA Entrance Exam! Also, I’ve decided that I’ll be making some of my own revisions for the UA school structure, mainly adding some more classes before the USJ arc. I always found it weird that not only did UA send the students to the USJ so early into their school curriculum, but that the League of Villains were ready to go the day after the breach. Did they have the recruitment drive done beforehand and simply had them waiting on standby for the go order? I’ll also be adding my own lore reasons for why it was Class 1-A specifically who were there. All I’ll say at the moment is that it wasn't by accident, but a deliberate declaration of power…

Now, for my ramblings about the chapter itself. I hope you liked my interpretation of Tenya here. I figured this was what he would have been like before he met Izuku and Ochako and mellowed out as a person; still strict, but not an ass about it. I’m also having second thoughts whenever I write with Chell. I can’t simply have her mute all the time, that would be way too difficult, and I do have moments planned where she goes full silent treatment as she goes wild on someone, but I sometimes second guess myself with her snarky/moody teenage self. I dunno, what do you guys think? Then on the other side of the world, we meet Eli Vance, one and only son of Gordon and Alyx Vance (yes, he was named after his grandfather, a fact only his parents are aware of). I also decided to do some world building for countries outside of Japan when it comes to how their powers are treated. As you’ll note, I used both ‘powers’ and ‘Soul Keys’. ‘Powers’ is the UCA’s word for quirks, a general term (and one that makes more sense to me). ‘Soul Keys’ on the other hand are the lingo used by the Freed, a religious movement who worship The One Free Man, and view their powers as a boon from him. Obviously, as seen, not having powers or unnatural abilities in either of these groups is radically different compared to Japan, where the quirkless are harassed and bullied. Best case scenario, this is only at the school level. Worst case scenario, and it makes it much darker when you think about it. Also, since the founding members of the Freed are Vortigaunts, the idea of prejudice due to one’s physical appearance thanks to their quirk/abilities/powers/soul key is very weird. And yes, the G-Man is doing his thing, making sure all the pieces are in place and ready to go for when he needs them. What does he need them for? You’ll see…

Anyway, enough hints, spoilers, and looming foreshadowing, time for reviews.

TheGigaGamer75: Correct, Wheatley will show up, but will he be the one to do the reveal in a casual manner, not knowing the implications of what he said? Still deciding that, but I have a pretty good plan in mind to make it amusing yet laying out some bread crumbs. As for Rikido, LET ME COOK! Trust me, Rikido is one of my least favourite MHA characters, along with Hanta. Both of them are boring, both of them are lame, and they both don’t really contribute to the story in any meaningful way. Same with Mashirao I guess, but he might have had something going on with Toru, so that raises him ever so slightly above the rest. This Rikido though, grandson of Kid Muscle, heir of the Kinniku line? Trust me, his powers are going to get a complete overhaul. As a sneak peek, since he didn’t really have any ultimate moves in canon, here’s one that I came up with: Nectar. To anyone well versed in Greek mythology, you’ll get it. It’s an endgame move, but I have a bunch of them planned. My boi is getting his redemption arc right here, so I’ll try my best to make him more interesting than a stale slice of white bread. The bar is so low that you could trip over it, so anything I do will be an improvement. 

ultima-owner: No, while it would be a cool idea, the quiet girl was Yui Kodai from Class 1-B. Since Japan is MUCH smaller than real life, due to the whole ‘slaughter of humanity and enslave the rest’ thing, many characters will be sharing the same city. For instance, Tokyo is probably the most packed city at the moment, in terms of who lives there. Also means that when the League of Villains VS the Meta Liberation Army war happens, that’s a big event. Even more so is the rampage of Gigantomachia. As mentioned, the loss of each city is almost impossible to replace. That’s why S-Rank villains are given the ‘kill if capture isn’t viable’ approach, since they are city-level threats. As for your comment on the trainline of Japan, funny you should mention that, all of the cities that were spared were conveniently on the train line that runs through Japan. It makes sense, these were the largest cities, but an interesting fact nonetheless. And yes, the Combine would absolutely use the existing infrastructure. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

StarWanderer's Writing: Glad you liked the chapter, and I hope you enjoy how I transform Rikido from a plain, boring, background character in the main character’s class, to someone who actually matters in the grand scheme of things. Trying to do that with all of Class 1-A, in fact, but Rikido desperately needs it.

Okay, that’s all of the reviews. Before we get into the sneak peek for next chapter, there are three things I want to share with y’all.

First, I can finally show some of the commissioned artwork for this series! I’ve been holding off for so long because Eli hadn’t been introduced, but now I finally can. As you can see, he’s a bit of a chip off the old block.

Secondly and thirdly, I want to show you some maps. Specifically, Japan and the United Cities of America in the 23rd Century. As you can see, these nations have slimmed down quite a bit.

Okay, and that’s that. For your customary sneak peek, next chapter is called ‘ Test and Tensions ’. We’re finally to the Entrance Exam folks, we made it.

See y’all next time…

- Jevm

Chapter Text

“Holy delays, Batman! Why was this chapter so late?!”

“Well, dear Robin, that’s because the author had his final assessments for his courses for the semester, assessments he submitted late for three out of the four of them like a f***ing idiot!”

“Gee, Batman, that sounds like someone else talking through you!”

…Yeah, sorry about the late chapter. I’m finished with my classes for the semester, and the next semester doesn’t start until mid-July, so I’ll try to get a bunch of chapters written when I don’t have a work shift. I’ll do my best to not let there be a month gap between chapters.

Again, sorry.

In the city of Tokyo, capital and most prosperous city of the nation of Japan, the dawn chorus of suburban birds began their symphony hours before the rising Sun shone over the city’s towering walls. Truly, in these early hours of the morning, only the birds should be awake…

THUMP THUMP THUMP  

“Dad! Wake up, we’re gonna be late!”

Of course, what should happen and what did happen were often very separate things indeed.

Hizashi’s bleary eyes opened at the thumping noise of his daughter’s fist slamming into his closed door. Rolling over with a dissatisfied groan, his arm flailed in the cold winter air, desperately searching for his phone that he had placed on his bedside table.

“Aha, success,” he grumbled to himself, his fingers clasping around the slim, rectangular device. Bringing its screen before his face, his eyes winced from the sudden brightness, squinting to let them adjust. After a moment of waiting, he was finally able to look at the screen without his eyes watering, but they quickly widened as he saw the time.

05:23

“Why’s she up so early?” Hizashi groaned, his phone discarded next to him on the bed as he clutched his face, his hands rubbing his closed eyes. “We don’t need to leave for another few hours.”

He rolled over onto his side, his back to the door, hoping that his mind was still tired enough to fall back to sleep. Unfortunately, just as his eyes grew heavy, he dragged back into the waking world.

THUMP THUMP THUMP

“Lay off, wouldya?!” Hizashi yelled, his head snapping around towards the door to ensure his daughter heard him. “Why are you up this early?!”

“But Dad, today’s the 26th!” Chell said through the door, the hollow wooden slab not being enough to mask her excitement. “It’s the day of the Entrance Exam! We can’t be late!”

“And did you forget who’s presenting it?” Hizashi called back, huffing to himself as he threw the blankets off, doing his best to ignore how cold it was outside of the safety of his duvet. “But whatever, forget my sleep cycle! Guess I’ll get up now, when everyone else in Tokyo, hell, in the rest of Japan is still asleep!”

“Uncle Shota’s probably still up,” Chell quipped, her voice moving away from his door. “He’ll probably be sleeping through the written exam, so you’ve got more sleep than he would’ve!”

“ Grr , who taught that girl so much sass?” Hizashi complained to himself, ignoring the fact that he was the one to teach her that.

Having thrown on his shirt that he had removed before going to bed, wrapping himself in a dressing gown and putting on his favourite cockatiel slippers, Hizashi trudged out of his bedroom, yawning as he walked into the kitchen.

“Here ya go,” Chell said, placing something on the counter next to him. He opened an eye, seeing a steaming mug of freshly brewed coffee, the scent drawing him in.

“Thanks,” he mumbled, taking a deep sip, practically feeling the caffeine rejuvenating his brain.

“Would it have hurt you to let me sleep in?” he asked once he could add two fives together. “I don’t get many of those, ya know?”

“You slept in on Friday,” Chell deadpanned, a mug of hot chocolate held between her hands. “You were still asleep when I left for school, and you probably didn’t get up until lunchtime.”

“I had my radio station to run!” Hizashi protested, and he would have slammed his mug onto the counter to emphasise his point if not for the divine drink inside. “You know I don’t get off the air until five in the morning!”

Chell made a noncommittal hum, looking away to start doodling in a notepad that sat next to her.

“Still working on your suit designs?” Hizashi asked, leaning over to see only for his face to be pushed away, Chell giving him a small glare.

“It’s not finished yet,” she muttered, angling her body so it covered her work. “And anyway, I still haven’t-”

“You’re getting in,” Hizashi butted in, having no desire to see his daughter’s anxiety and self-doubt spring back up. “Chell, it’s been more than a year since you, quite literally, dropped into my life.”

“More like crash landed.”

“Hey, you stuck the landing, didn’t ya?”

Chell only huffed at that, but from the small smile on her face, Hizashi knew she found it funny.

“Like I said, you’ve been in this new land, hell, this new century, for over a year,” Hizashi continued. “Most people would struggle, especially after all you’ve gone through, but you’ve flourished! Sure, you get into fights at school every now and then, and sure, I have to blackmail those Somei elitist pricks whenever it happens, but look on the bright side! You’ve taken to learning Japanese like a fish to water, you’re putting your all into training your quirk and martial arts, and you haven’t set your cooking on fire in weeks!”

“Months, Dad, months!” Chell protested, an indignant look on her face at her father’s teasing, her hands punched into fists at her sides. “How was I supposed to know it was coconut oil and not olive oil?!”

“Okay, okay, months, not weeks,” Hizashi chuckled, his hands held up in front of him in surrender. “But my point still stands; you’ll be fine. I know it hasn’t been easy going to Somei, but you’ve stuck it out, even made a few friends there. Sure, none of them are going to U.A., but at least Shitsuno is applying to Shiketsu! You both share an interest that way!”

“Shikaku, not Shitsuno!” Chell corrected, rolling her eyes. “Shikaku Nakama! Come on, Dad, try and at least get her family name right!”

“Sorry, sorry,” Hizashi winced. “But I’m not wrong. You don’t need to be worrying about whether or not you’ll get into the Hero Course; what you need to focus on is trying to place as high as you can. Even though there isn’t any benefit for getting a higher ranking than someone else, well, other than first place, you’re going to U.A. You need to go beyond-”

“Plus Ultra!” Chell finished, one fist shooting up into the air with a grin on her face that Hizashi couldn’t help but mirror. Looking back at what Chell was like a year ago was like night and day. Where she was once reserved and quiet, she was now much more confident and sure of herself. Sure, she was as snarky and sarcastic as any teenage girl could be, but Hizashi loved her all the more for it. She smiled more, laughed out loud, and was overall more energetic. Where she had once gone through life with hesitation and uncertainty, she was now more confident, a form of assurance in how she walked, rather than stepping lightly to avoid detection. Where a year ago she was closed off, only really allowing Hizashi, Shota, and Nemuri in close, and maybe Principal Nezu if he allowed himself to be held by her or Hound Dog on one of Chell’s good days, she had found those her age who she could open herself to. Unlike Hizashi, who liked to make as many friends as possible, Chell valued quality over quantity, having her group of fellow outcasts at school and then the young Sato in Hiroshima who she kept in regular contact with. She still had an edge to her, though Hizashi reckoned that was a blend of her old life and Shota’s influence, but she was willing to give people a chance, and then she’d get into a fight. 

And as they boarded the train heading to Yokohama, Hizashi couldn’t help but be proud of how far his daughter had come, or of how far she’d inevitably go.

-]l[-

Chell and her father had arrived at the Tokyo Station with plenty of time, boarding the southbound National Expressline. After about an hour-long journey they arrived in Yokohama, where they disembarked, boarding a second train at the U.A. platform, one reserved for ferrying teachers and students too and from the hero academy. Each of Japan’s twelve hero schools, one for each city, had their own private railway lines that ran through the Outlands, giving the schools plenty of room for their students to train without disrupting the public.

“Do you have any plans for the practical?” Hizashi asked as Chell looked out the window, watching the scenery fly past. “The written is pretty standard, so it’s how you do in the practical that will make or break getting into the Hero Course and not be put into General Studies.”

“Well, the entrance exam is against robots,” Chell planned aloud. “And they’re not all that tough; after all, their purpose is to be defeated, so there are intentional design flaws. I wasn’t able to see much in the monitoring room last year, so I can’t plan for anything in particular, but they’re probably going to be pretty weak, or have vulnerable points, so with my strength and quirk, that shouldn’t be an issue.”

Chell paused for a moment before looking up at Hizashi, a feral smirk on her face. “However, I also want to test something out on them.”

“Oh yeah?” Hizashi asked. “And what’s that?”

“Paradoxes.”

Hizashi blinked at that, tilting his head in confusion.

“At Aperture, one of the signs talked about how A.I. aren’t able to process paradoxes,” Chell explained with glee. “I know they can work, well, most of the time, so I want to try it out on the test robots. As their processors are frying, I’ll be able to rip them apart and turn them into scrap!”

A thought occurred to Chell, making her joy quickly turn into anxiety. “I won’t be penalised for knowing about the event beforehand, right?”

“Nope, fortunately not,” Hizashi grinned. “Aside from some key details about the exam, it isn’t exactly forbidden to talk about it, so long as it's in person. Details about it can’t be spread online, but if you know someone who took the practical exam, there isn’t any rule saying you can’t tell about what you’re fighting.”

“Oh, good,” Chell muttered, looking down at the bed she rested on in the father-daughter duo’s luxury cabin. “The one-pointers would be the easiest to take down, but they aren’t worth much, while the three-pointers are worth the most, but are heavily armoured. And then there’s the issue of getting more points while the zero-pointer rampages, as most people will be too busy running away rather than gathering points.”

“You don’t need to worry about it too much, kiddo,” Hizashi grinned, a hand resting on Chell’s shoulder as the train pulled into U.A.’s station. “Just have fun and do your best; you’ll be fine.”

As Chell and her father exited the train, she couldn’t help but notice the lack of people in the terminal. That wasn’t to say it was empty, with a few students here and there, but for the most part only teachers seemed to have arrived so far.

‘The perks of arriving early, I guess,’ Chell thought as they climbed the hill where the main campus rested. ‘Means we get to avoid the cramped trains full of excited teens.’

As they passed the U.A. gate, Chell came to a stop, leaning against the wall.

“Aren’t you coming, Chell?” Hizashi asked. “I get there’s still an hour before the presentation begins, but you can wait inside the auditorium.”

“Nah, I’ll be fine,” Chell said, pulling out her phone. “I texted Sato last night, and he’s still coming, so I’ll wait for him.”

“Alright, I’ll see you in a bit,” Hizashi said, waving goodbye as he walked away.

Chell settled in, knowing that it would take Sato a while before he arrived. While she waited, she decided to pass the time by doing her private Japanese lessons while doing some people watching. Whatever had happened to her in those first few weeks in Japan, Chell had gained the ability to perfectly recall any Japanese that she heard or read. While it had allowed her to enroll within a Japanese school relatively seamlessly with only a few months worth of intense studying, though admittedly she was ranked near the bottom of her class academically, she knew that she still needed to learn more words, phrasing, and structure to keep up with her classmates who had over a decade worth of study and practice. It didn’t help that there were so many characters in kanji, with the combinations creating new words, and sometimes the combinations giving the characters new meaning. And while it could all be perfectly recalled, she still had to learn it first.

Aside from that, it was interesting seeing the different students arriving to take the entrance exam of U.A. While many of them looked too out of shape to be applying for the Hero Course, Chell knew from her father, aunt, and uncle that the vast majority of those applying at U.A. were those hoping to get into the Hero Course, despite the ruthlessly low pass rate.

‘Only thirty-two of us can make it,’ Chell thought to herself, ‘and yet there are thousands of applicants. That’s a lot of people to keep on top of.’

Of course, she would be overestimating a lot of people given how nervous many were. One boy with messy green hair even managed to trip on his own leg, only to be saved by a girl passing by who merely had to reach out and touch him to stop his fall.

‘She might be strong,’ Chell thought, watching as the girl walked away from the boy she saved. ‘The other kid seems like a mess though. How can someone trip on their own legs?!’

“Yamada?” a familiar voice asked, causing Chell to look up at the excited expression of her friend.

“Hey, Sato,” she greeted, pushing herself off the wall, walking over to her muscular friend. “Took you long enough. You know Dad’s presentation starts in five, right?”

“Sorry, sorry,” Sato apologised, rubbing the back of his head. “The train had to make an emergency stop on the way here. Apparently a Gargantua wandered onto the tracks up ahead, so it had to be lured away before it saw the train.”

“Oh yikes, fair enough,” Chell winced. She’d heard about how dangerous Gargantuas were, how they often required multiple heroes simply to drive one off, let alone kill it. From its towering height of six metres (20 feet) tall, its exoskeleton that allowed it to completely ignore anything less than explosive force, and the plasma it could internally produce, they were a force of nature where it often was better to drive it off rather than hunt it. She remembered seeing on the news how Endeavor, the No. 2 Pro Hero in Japan, had been called in to deal with one particularly aggressive Gargantua up in Sapporo, using his resistance to heat to avoid the worst of the Gargantua’s attacks while using his own flame quirk to roast the alien creature in it’s own shell. 

“So, you think you’re ready for this?” Sato asked. “Not getting pre-exam nerves?”

“Nope,” Chell shook her head. “I’m not gonna be a top scorer in the written exam, but I’m aiming for the top in the practical.”

“Yeah, same,” Sato grinned. “We might not be the smartest here, but I bet we’re some of the strongest. I mean, how many people here have parents who are former or current Pros?”

“Ida, unfortunately,” Chell sighed. “I know that uppity ass is taking the Entrance Exam along with a few other of my classmates from Somei. The worst part is that he’s probably gonna get in too.”

“I thought you hated the guy,” Sato noted. “Whenever you mention him you always get irritated.”

“Hate’s a strong word; annoying is more like it,” Chell admitted. “He’s a teacher’s pet, follows the rules excessively, and’s a snitch. But as much as I hate to admit it, he’s strong, he’s smart, and he’s the second fastest at Somei, if he uses his quirk.”

“And who’s the fastest?”

“Who do you think?” Chell grinned up at her friend, pointing to herself. “Ida’s fast, no doubt about it, but my portals can form basically instantly, no matter the distance. Plus it gives me a mobility advantage, because I don’t have to follow the road, unlike him.”

“So you think he’ll be one of the people to pass?” Sato asked.

“Probably,” Chell sighed, hanging her head as she walked. “I just hope we’re not put in the same class, else we’ll be butting heads.”

Walking through the open doors of U.A.’s auditorium, Chell and Sato were greeted with rows upon rows of seats, large enough to seat the thousands of applicants that applied each year.

“Hey, Yamada, this is my row,” Sato said, looking down at a sheet of paper in his hands. “I know you probably don’t need it, but good luck.”

“You too,” Chell smiled, heading further down the rows, counting them off in her head.

‘Ah, here we are,’ she thought, arriving at her row that Somei students had a seat in. Slipping past students who were already seated, Chell finally found her seat amongst the other Somei students, flopping down and leaning into her chair.

“Yamada, you’re late,” Ida scolded, leaning forward to look past their classmates who were all doing their best to look as small as possible. “As a representative of Somei Private Academy, you must not be tardy!”

“Tell someone who cares, Ida,” Chell said, not bothering to look the student in the eyes as she went back onto her phone. “I got here before Dad’s presentation, so I’m not late.”

“And we must be ten minutes early, not merely arriving on the dot!”

“Again, tell it to someone who cares.”

Ida made an indignant grunting before letting out a sigh, sitting back into his seat, causing Chell to smirk to herself.

‘Another point to me.’

-]l[-

As Izuku sat amongst the crowds of students all trying to get into U.A., it was safe to say he was more than nervous. Not that today had been easy on his nerves anyway! First had been the nervousness of whether or not he’d be able to use One For All, the new quirk All Might had granted him, when he needed it. 

Then there was the fact that Kacchan was here, and he didn’t seem all too happy about it. Sure, he hadn’t yelled at him when they met up at the entrance, and Kacchan wasn’t doing anything more than sitting next him in the auditorium, but Izuku couldn’t help but feel nervous being around his former childhood friend. 

And then there was the fact that he had tripped on his own leg in front of everyone! If it hadn’t been for that nice girl stopping his fall, he’d have been injured before even taking the practical exam!

But before any of Izuku’s worries could continue haunting him, the lights in the auditorium dimmed, plunging the room into a low lighting; still bright enough to see, but enough of a change to grab everyone’s attention. A moment later floodlights flicked on, lighting up the stage in front of them, the spotlights focusing on the Voice Hero: Present Mic.

“Oh wow, it’s Present Mic,” Izuku muttered to himself with glee only a hero otaku could muster. “I listen to his radio show every week, it’s so inspiring. I can’t believe that all the U.A. teachers are Pro Heroes.”

“Welcome to today’s live performance!” the blond radio hero greeted, a hand cupping his ear towards the students. “Everybody say ‘hey’!”

There was a moment of silence before a girl in the crowd gave out a half-hearted “Hey!” in return.

“Alright!” Present Mic cheered, pointing a pair of finger guns into the crowd. “I got a response from my daughter at least! Love you, kiddo!”

His statement caused a ripple of murmurs and whispers throughout the auditorium, many students trying to see who he was talking to, Izuku being one of them. As the diehard hero fan that he was, Izuku was one of the many people in Japan to be surprised when news of the Voice Hero’s daughter began to spread, and that surprise turned into shock when the news was confirmed by the hero himself.

“Oh well, even if it was only my daughter, that’s cool, my examinee listeners!” the Voice Hero continued. “I’m here to present the guidelines of your exams! Are you ready?!”

Once more, silence filled the auditorium.

“And his daughter is here too?” Izuku muttered to himself. “I wonder what information she’d be able to tell me about her father? Oh, she might know some details even I’m not aware of.”

“Shaddup,” Kacchan growled, causing Izuku to let out a small squeak as Present Mic continued his presentation.

“To make things simple, I’ll detail the guidelines of the different exams happening today!” Present Mic explained. “To start with, you’ll all be starting off with your written exams!”

The sounds of groans or complaints from students quickly filled the auditorium.

“I know, I know, I didn’t like them either when I was your age!” Present Mic chuckled, his loud voice cutting through the noise. “However! We at U.A. only accept the best of the best! Even though we have thousands of applicants all gathered here today, we only have room for two hundred and twenty of you, and that's not factoring in our international students! Everyone accepted, be they those in the Hero Course, General Studies Course, Support Course, or Business Study Course, has to pass our written exams! Of course, anyone trying to get into the Business Study Course will be judged the most on your results, while you kids trying to get into the Hero Course will be judged the least! But that doesn’t mean you can slack off, ya hear?! Heroes have to be book smart AND street smart, you dig?!

“Now, how will the written exams work?! Well, you all will be split off to your own lecture halls! The information of where you need to go will be on those handy sheets you would have received! You have an hour and a half to complete the test, then pencils down, no more writing! Hand in your papers, grab your stuff, and breathe a sigh of relief when it’s all over!”

“Now then, to anyone interested in the Support or Business Courses, you can all head off right now if you want to!” Present Mic declared. “Since you Support Course inventors and you Business Course marketers aren’t taking the practical exam, you’re able to go ahead and choose the seats that you want!”

Izuku looked around as about a quarter, maybe less, of the gathered students stood up from their seats.

“And they’re all applying for the Support and Business Courses,” Izuku muttered to himself, watching the leaving students. “But there are still so many still here. Are they all trying to get into the Hero Course?”

“Okay, anyone else?!” Present Mic asked, looking to see if there were anymore stragglers. “No?! Great, then we can get into the practical exam! If you’ve stayed behind, you’ll be wanting into the Hero Course! Well, if you look around, you’ll see that there are WAY too many of you for us to teach! We’ve only got thirty-two available places in the Hero Course, and since this is a hero school, why not whittle down the number of students with the a practical, hands-on test?!”

Behind Present Mic, a projector lit up, showing twelve different testing grounds.

“Introducing U.A’s Training Grounds, Alpha to Omega, which you’ll head to after your written exams!” Present Mic grinned. “With a variety of environments for you kids to battle in, there’s more than enough space for you all to stretch your legs, arms, wings, and what other kind of appendages or limbs you have! And since some of you are more suited for specific environments than others, we have a range of specialty testing grounds, just for you! So here’s how it’ll go down!”

The screen zoomed towards one of the generic cityscape testing grounds, showing a two-and-a-half perspective of the city, aimed at an angle from above. 

“You’ll be experiencing ten-minute-long ‘mock cityscape manoeuvres’!” the Voice Hero explained. “As you all know, you were all invited to bring along any gear you think would help you in this exercise. Bear in mind, however, that relying on your gear too much is a big mark against you! If you need it to make the most of your quirk, by all means, go for it! But if we see you relying on your gear more than your own abilities, our judges will take note of that, and points will be docked!”

“And kids from different schools are assigned to different testing grounds,” Kacchan noticed, glancing between his own form and Izuku’s. “It’s so they can’t help each other out, yeah? Can’t make a pre-test plan together.”

“Y-Yeah, that makes sense,” Izuku stammered, nervously nodding his head in approval.

“ Tch ,” Kacchan scoffed, turning his attention back towards Present Mic. “‘Course, that means you get to live another day.”

“And what practical exam for a hero academy wouldn’t be complete without villains?!” Present Mic cheered, as a series of silhouettes of what could only be robots appeared next to the model of the testing ground. “Each site is filled with U.A’s very own faux villains! There are three types in total, and points are awarded for defeating each according to their respective difficulty levels! Victory-model robots are worth one point, Imperial-model robots are worth two points, and Venator-model robots are worth three points! The more powerful and dangerous the villain, the more you’ll be rewarded for defeating them! Use your quirks to disable these faux villains, and watch as the points roll in! The more you earn, the better chance you have of securing one of those thirty-two spots! However, while we at U.A. appreciate and even encourage a healthy atmosphere of competitiveness, playing the antihero and attacking other examinees is totally prohibited! We catch you doing any of that, and you’ll be out of the test before you can blink!”

The fact that Kacchan scoffed at that last comment made aware of how lucky those in his former childhood friend’s testing grounds were.

“May I ask a question?!” a voice called out from the crowd of students further down the auditorium, quickly followed by a spotlight shining down on the student in question as he stood up from his seat. From the back, Izuku wasn’t able to see anything about the student’s face, but he was able to notice the white uniform, different to the gakuran uniform that Izuku and Kacchan wore, a uniform typical to a Japanese middle school.

“He must be from a private school,” Izuku muttered aloud as the questioning student began to speak.

“There appear to be four varieties of faux villains on this handout, not three! Such a blatant error, if it is one, is highly unbecoming for U.A., Japan’s top hero academy! We’re all here today in hopes of being molded into model heroes!

“And you, with the curly hair!” the male student added, pointing directly at Izuku. His face was set into a stern scowl, the pair of glasses that rested on his nose only adding to the sternness he projected. 

“You’ve been muttering this whole time,” he stated with a glare. “It’s distracting! If this is some sort of game to you, then please leave immediately!”

“Oh wow, Ida, that’s real scary of you!” a female student in the same general area called out in a mocking voice. “What’re ya gonna do, pull that stick outta your ass and beat him with it?!”

The crude comment caused more than a few snickers throughout the auditorium, including from Kacchan, while the terrifying student who was insulted whipped his head around, glaring at someone in his row.

“Yamada, you listen here! I’ll-”

“Alright alright, that’s enough, Injenium Jr,” Present Mic called out. “Trust me, I more than understand the beef between you and my daughter from the number of times I’ve been called in by your principal, but save the banter for afterwards, okay?!”

The projector screen changed, and the three silhouettes of the robot villains shifted, making room for a fourth and final opponent. 

“Unlike the other three, the fourth faux villain variety, the Executor-model, gets you zero points!” Present Mic revealed. “It’s more of an obstacle than anything else, like a gimmick rather than an opponent to beat! There’s only one at each site, and his job is to rampage around in close quarters!”

“Thank you sir. I apologise for the interruption!” the stern student bowed before taking his seat, but Izuku couldn’t help but notice the glare he was sending to his female school-mate who had called out.

“Now, some people here might have heard some rumors about our General Studies Course,” Present Mic continued. “Let me make it clear; only the top thirty-two students in the practical will make it into the Hero Course. Four people from the Recommended Exams are accepted, two per class, as well as our usual two international students per class, making fourty. As for the rest of you? Well, if you managed to place in positions thirty-three through to eighty-six, then you're in luck! You've secured yourself a spot in our General Studies Course!”

“So the General Studies Course is for the rejects?!” someone in the crowd called out.

“Nope!” Present Mic denied, shaking his head as his jovial, upbeat attitude turned serious. “This is U.A.; we don't accept rejects. If you made it into the General Studies Course, that means you have potential. Anyone who gets zero points in the practical gets an F- grade, has zero potential, and U.A. doesn't accept that. If you applied for the General Studies Course thinking that it's going to be your standard high school but you'll be taught by Pro Heroes, I suggest you leave now and save yourself the pain. This is U.A.; we are a hero academy. For the Support Course, their classes will be focused on making gear and costumes for Pros and sidekicks. The Business Course will focus on how to market a hero and how to run their agencies. The Hero Course doesn't need any explanation on their focus. But General Studies? You're the Damocles Blade.”

Confused whispers and murmurs filled the auditorium as the gathered applicants tried to puzzle out what the Voice Hero meant.

“Confused?” Present Mic asked with a knowing grin. “Don't worry, I was too when I was seated where you are now. So let me explain; everyone in the General Studies Course are the wolves biting at the heels of a fleeing bear. Should the bear slow down enough, not be good enough, he'll be caught by the wolves and devoured. Should he muster his courage and remind the wolves that he is a bear, they’ll back off. It's the same here; should anyone in the Hero Course fall too low, or should anyone in the General Studies Course rise too high, then we'll replace the weaker Hero Course student with the stronger General Studies student. If you take this school too lightly, you can and will be replaced. And this isn't an empty threat, one that's almost impossible to achieve! It is incredibly rare for a Hero Course class at U.A. to go through their three years here without a change in the students. U.A. refuses to produce mediocre heroes who do the bare minimum! If you graduate as a hero, Pro or not, that means you're the best of the best. You overcame all the challenges we presented to you, stayed ahead of the curve, and survived. Being a hero isn't an easy job, so we won't go easy on you either. If you want to be a hero here, you'll have to show us why we should care about you! Everyone who graduates will have either shown they were the right choice to accept, or they proved themselves better than someone we accepted.”

Present Mic paused his speech, allowing the auditorium to fall into a stunned silence, filled with dread. Suddenly, the idea of attending a hero academy didn't seem as light-hearted as before.

“And that’s all from me! I’ll leave my listeners with our school motto!” Present Mic concluded. “The great hero Napoleon Bonaparte once said, ‘True heroism consists in being superior to the ills of life.’ Plus Ultra! Break a leg, everyone!”

-]l[-

While Izuku had been beyond nervous for the written exam, it had turned out to not be that bad. Sure, he wasn’t the first to hand in his exam papers, but all of the answers had been easy enough. Simple questions like when was the Seven Hour War (12 August, 2009), who was the former No. 1 Hero in Japan (Equipped Hero: Yoroi Musha), or the square root of 182 (13.49 with rounding). No, what Izuku was truly worried about stood before him.

“So big,” Izuku gasped, looking up at the towering walls that surrounded the training grounds, with said walls being short compared to the office buildings and apartment blocks within.

“It’s like a whole city!” one muscular student nearby eagerly exclaimed. “And they’ve got a bunch of these on campus?! U.A.’s something else!”

Looking around, Izuku was able to see that many of the roughly one hundred students assigned to the training ground were excitedly chatting with each other or stretching their bodies.

‘Why’s everyone so confident?!’ Izuku screamed in his mind. ‘Aren’t they nervous?!’

As Izuku looked around, taking in the sight of many of his fellow examinees wearing equipment to supplement or improve their quirks, his eyes locked onto a brown-haired girl in the crowd.

“It-It’s her!” Izuku gasped as he spoke to himself. “We’re at the same test site!”

“I’ve got to thank her for earlier,” Izuku muttered, forcing his nervous body to move through the crowd with trembling steps, his gaze focused on the kind girl who had stopped him from falling flat on his face at the entrance of U.A. However, he was so focused on her that he wasn’t able to see that someone was in front of him until it was too late.

“ Oof ,” Izuku gasped as he bounced off the person he had absentmindedly walked into. “O-Oh, I-I’m so s-sorry!”

“Whatever, just watch where you’re going,” the person huffed, and her voice caused Izuku’s eyes to widen. Looking up at the tall girl, Izuku took in her tanned skin, her long dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, and the curved pieces of metal that extended out of the back of her knees. Not only did he recognise her appearance, but he also recognised her voice.

“Y-You’re Present Mic’s daughter,” Izuku gasped, his eyes widening. “And you were the person who defended me against that guy with the glasses!”

“Defended?” the girl parroted with a smirk. “Think you’ve got it all wrong; I wasn’t defending you, I was picking a fight with Ida. Him being a pretentious ass to you was simply my excuse.”

“O-Oh,” Izuku muttered, deflating slightly from her words.

“Hey, wait a minute,” Present Mic’s daughter said, squinting her eyes at Izuku. “Weren’t you the one who tripped over your own leg? The hell you doing here?! Shouldn’t someone like you be trying to get into the Business Course?”

“Um, well, you see,” Izuku stammered, each stumble over his words causing those around him to snicker or laugh, comments about, “One less rival,” only causing him to stammer more.

“ And, begin! ”

“Huh?” Izuku and many other students around him blinked, blankly staring at the speakers near the now-open entrance to the training grounds.

“ What’s wrong?! The test’s started! Run! Run! The die is cast! ” Present Mic yelled over the speakers.

“Wait, does that mean…” Izuku muttered, only his eyes to widen as he saw the rest of the examinees sprinting into the city.

‘I’m already behind!’ Izuku lamented as he chased after the crowd. ‘Calm down! Calm down! It’s fine! I’m fine! I can do this! I was meant to do this! Meant to be a hero!’

‘Just remember what All Might said at the beach,’ Izuku reminded himself as he rounded a corner, running down the deserted city road. ‘When using One For All, clench up my butt and from my heart, yell-’ 

“Sma-”

CRASH

Izuku flinched back as a villain bot burst out of a nearby building, fragments of glass pouring off it as its red, mechanical eye locked onto Izuku.

“A one-pointer!” Izuku yelled, noticing the yellow number painted on the machine’s arms.

“Target locked!” the robot droned. “Prepare for termination!”

‘Here it comes! Get ready!’ Izuku thought to himself as the machine barrel towards him down the street. Yet no matter how much he tried to prepare himself to fight the robot, his body wouldn’t move.

‘Why can’t I move? Am I just terrified on instinct? Move, move, mo-’

“Hey, scrapheap! Does a set of all sets contain itself?!”

Izuku and the machine both reacted to the proposed paradox question; while the machine froze up, twitching and spasming, Izuku saw a female student leap from the top of a nearby building, her hair trailing behind her as she fell. Turning her body midair, she landed feet first on top of the one-pointer, the machine crumpling into scrap beneath her.

“Yes, the paradoxes work!” she cheered before turning to face Izuku, revealing herself as Present Mic’s daughter. She pulled off the goggles she wore over her eyes, giving Izuku an apologetic smile. “Sorry for taking your kill, but first come, first served. Later!”

Pointing her left arm behind her, a blue streak of light shot out, quickly followed by an orange streak of light from her right hand hitting the ground beside the destroyed robot, an orange hole forming on the ground. The girl snapped back on her goggles before tipping backwards off the machine and falling through the hole, appearing out of the side of a building further down the street.

“Wow, a portal quirk,” Izuku admired before shaking his head, rushing off further into the city. “No, focus, Izuku, you can’t get distracted. Ten minutes, remember! Got to get some points! I can’t fail, not after everything that All Might did for me.”

And yet try as he might, Izuku wasn’t able to find any villain robots that hadn’t already been destroyed or disabled. That was, however, until a villain bot emerged that no one could ignore…

-]l[-

Unlike almost every student taking the practical exam, Chell knew the ins and outs of it; fight in an enclosed training ground, try to rack up as many points as possible, and in the final minute of the exam, try to avoid the zero-pointer. Just from looking at it a year ago, Chell knew that it was going to be an enjoyable experience.

Boy did she underestimate how much fun she’d be having.

While anyone else from Japan might enjoy the thrills of being able to cut loose, being able to freely use their quirks, regardless of the damage it could create, Chell found much more satisfaction with each splash of lubricant and oil that burst from the ruined machines, the crunch of metal underfoot, and the sparking remains she left in her wake.

After the trials and dangers of Aperture, the opportunity she now faced allowed Chell to cut loose, venting anger and frustrations that could only be unleashed against a mechanical punching bag.

“This sentence is false!” Chell yelled at the two-pointer, an Imperial-model villain bot. Immediately, the scorpion-like machine froze up, the paradox overloading its processors. Not wasting any time, Chell dashed forwards, leaping onto the machine's back, wrapping her arms around its tail before pulling with all her might.

While she hadn’t bothered to keep track of how many points she had, simply focusing on destroying every machine in sight, Chell had picked up the traits and abilities of the different opponents. One-pointers, Victorys, were glass cannons; very fast but very fragile. Someone would be able to destroy one without any quirk or strength enhancement so long as they hit it’s weak points with something strong enough. The gatling guns that were attached under the arm plates were, disappointingly, only for show. All they could do to attack was ram themselves into someone, or bash someone with their shields.

Two-pointers, Imperials, were a middle ground of the three main types; a balance of speed, defense, and offence. While they didn’t have the manoeuvrability of the Victorys, their four limbs made them surprisingly manoeuvrable. And while they weren’t as durable as the three-pointers, the Venators, nor did they have their missile pods, the Imperials did have a laser that was able to shoot out of their tail. Obviously it wasn’t lethal, U.A. wasn’t THAT crazy, but it’d sting if it hit you. Not that Chell would allow that to happen.

Sparks flew as the tail of the machine was ripped out, and rather than throw the appendage to the side, Chell raised it over her head, burying the tip into the machine’s head. While someone might think that the long neck of the creature housed its processor, Chell had discovered through trial and error (an Imperial surprising her by still being alive, catching her off guard with a tackle) that it was merely a distraction, drawing attention away from its core located into its torso.

The Imperial spasmed as its own tail destroyed its core, its legs giving out underneath it, collapsing onto the ground, giving Chell two more points to add to her uncounted total.

“Right, who’s next?” she asked aloud, trying to find her next target. Said target presented itself without her having to find one, being a Venator that trundled around the corner of a nearby office building. The slowest yet most heavily armed and armoured of the villain bots, the Venators were squat, tank-like machines, moving about with three wheels underneath its body. Two missile pods sat on its back, each loaded with five glitter missiles, doing little more than tossing someone and giving them a fright. Should they run out of their missiles, the bulky hands that the villain bot possessed were able to do the trick.

“Targeting,” the machine droned in a low, gravely voice. Chell found it mildly interesting that each villain bot had a different tone of voice, with Victorys having the highest and Venators having the lowest. But regardless of the tone of its voice, it didn’t change the fact that the villain bot was preparing to fire one of its missiles.

“Okay, let’s do this,” Chell grinned, her body tensing as she waited for the right moment to strike, dropping into a low stance, her hands pointed at opposite ends; her right hand pointed in front of her, and her left pointed behind her. 

With a mechanical drone, the Venator fired its missile at Chell, and from her perspective time seemed to slow down to a crawl. As her enhanced mind worked overtime, Chell’s right hand tensed, an orange portal forming on a wall behind the Venator. Behind her, her left hand tensed, and though she couldn’t see it, Chell could feel the connection made between the two portal openings.

Even though the formation of the portals had only taken a fraction of a second, the missile only had a fourth of the way to go before hitting Chell. Even with her perception of time dilated, Chell was able to see the missile steadily flying through the air towards her, too close for her to throw herself out of the way or drop to the ground, but not so close that she couldn’t avoid it. 

Moving as fast as her body allowed, Chell twisted her torso to the side as she leaned back, doing as much as she could to avoid the incoming missile. Even though it felt like she was moving her body through tar, Chell was able to move her body just enough for the missile to fly right past her, her eyes following its movement as it flew through the portal opening behind her, right into the Venator's back.

Chell’s perception of time returned to normal as a large, pink, sparkly explosion enveloped the sturdy machine, glitter sticking to its green frame. Even though the missiles were intentionally designed to not deal any real damage, a hit from them was still enough for the machines to shut down, giving Chell three more points.

“Okay, maybe allow for some more distance next time, Chell,” she sighed, taking deep, steady breaths to calm down her racing heart. “How long has it been anyway? It should be-”

BWAAAH

“-time for the zero-pointer,” she finished, watching as the looming villain bot, an Executor, burst out of the office building it had been hiding within, trundling down the road towards Chell and a few dozen other examinees.

“Welp, best make myself scarce,” Chell muttered, preparing to portal away before hearing a cry of pain. Her head snapped around, trying to find the source of the noise, quickly seeing a brown-haired girl trapped under some rubble. Some rubble that was placed right in the pathway of the Executor.

Chell froze in place, ignoring the panicking students who were running away, unaware or uncaring about the trapped girl. But even though Chell didn’t run away, she found herself rooted in place.

‘What do I do?’ she thought, her mind racing. ‘They won’t let her die, right? Dad wouldn’t work for a school that allowed that to happen. Mr Nezu wouldn’t let it happen. Right?’

She took a hesitant step backwards, even though her eyes never left the struggling girl.

‘She’ll be fine,’ Chell thought to herself. ‘It’s not my problem. There isn’t room for hesitation. She’ll be fine.’

Chell took another step backwards, but just as she was about to run away to find more villain bots in the last minute of the test, the trapped girl looked up. Her gaze flicked between Chell and someone nearby, and in her eyes was desperation and fear.

“Please!” she called out, one hand stretched out as far as she could. “Help me!”

Chell felt as if she had been stabbed in the heart. How unfair was that? The very same words that had never been answered for so long, were now being said to her.

‘How can I help?’ Chell cried out in her mind, her eyes flicking about, trying to find an answer. ‘The Executor will be on top of her in a second. There’s nothing I can do to stop it. I’m powerless, just like before! Useless!’

But even though Chell was powerless to stop the approaching zero-pointer, that didn’t mean no one could.

A burst of air pushed against her, her hair flying in the wind as her eyes widened at the sight of a student who had just launched himself into the air. While the feat itself was incredible, Chell’s focus wasn’t on what happened, but rather who.

“That’s…” Chell trailed off, beyond surprised and shocked that the green-haired boy, someone shorter than her (not that it was uncommon when she walked on her toes), and someone who seemed so meek and cowardly, had power that only a Pro would have.

“Smash!” she heard him yell, before a loud BOOM sounded out as the boy’s fist slammed into the zero-pointer, its head caving in, explosions blooming along its body as a chain reaction occurred within the machine.

‘That’s what Dad would do,’ a voice said in Chell’s mind, all but deciding her decision.

Rather than waste time running over, two quirk portal placements caused Chell to fall upwards out of a portal next to the fallen rubble, the entrances collapsing so she could land on solid ground. Without wasting a moment, Chell grabbed the underside of a large slab of concrete that rested on top of the pile, grunting and straining as she tried to lift it.

“Shit, this is heavy!” she swore, slamming her shoulder underneath the concrete to try and give herself some extra leverage. When she had simply been a Brazilian orphan, and even a test subject of Aperture, Chell wouldn’t have been remotely strong enough to lift the rubble. But now, she used all of her enhanced muscles to slowly lift up one end of the slab.

“Move!” she yelled, holding it up long enough for the trapped girl to scramble her way out, and once she was clear, Chell let go, stepping back as it fell down with a crash. However, there would be no rest for Chell.

“Oh no!” the girl next to her exclaimed, pointing up to the sky. “He’s falling!”

Chell looked up, and sure enough, the green-haired boy may have taken down the Executor robot, but it had clearly gotten payback, as the boy’s legs and right arms were flailing and flapping in ways limbs shouldn’t be able to.

“It’s always one thing after another,” Chell growled, the adrenaline in her brain causing time to seem to slow down once more. Her eyes tracked the movement of the falling boy as she backed up a few steps, knowing she’d need a running start. Her eyes flicked around rapidly, taking in the area, flat surfaces she could make a portal on, and rough estimations on where she’d need to place them to perform her plan.

Her legs tensed before she pushed off, the concrete fracturing underneath her backfoot as she dashed onto and up the pile of debris. Her right hand shot out, an orange portal forming on the wall of a nearby office building, and as she reached the peak of the pile of rubble, Chell leapt into the air, gaining as much momentum as she could before her left hand formed a blue portal on the ground, one that Chell fell head-first through, emerging out the other side many metres in the air. Chell’s eyes looked upward, seeing the flailing boy falling right in front of her, just as planned. Her arms shot out, one creating an orange portal on the ground floor of another building across the street before snapping back up, grabbing the boy as they collided midair.

“Hold on!” Chell yelled over the rushing air, her left arm pointed towards the now fast approaching ground, a blue portal forming where they would hit the ground. The airborne pair fell through, gravity quickly changing around them as Chell and the green-haired boy tumbled across the pavement, quickly rolling to a stop.

“Ow,” Chell groaned, hissing as she tried to move her right arm, the same arm that had taken the brunt of the fall as Chell did her best to protect the injured teen. It hurt, but not so bad that it was a break, and despite the pain she could still move it, so it was probably only a fracture.

“ Urgh ,” Chell heard, causing her to turn her head, watching the green-haired boy drag his way down the street with his one good arm. “Just, one point, I need to get just one point!”

“ It’s all over! ” Chell heard her father declare of the speakers posted throughout the city, calling an end to the exams. Yet despite the fact that the test was finished, Chell couldn’t help but look at the broken teen in front of her with pity at his distraught expression. 

‘No wonder he’s so nervous around everyone,’ Chell thought to herself as she and the brown-haired girl did their best to stop the boy from moving. ‘He must have a kind heart to be that worried about people if his strength makes it seem like he lives in a world made of cardboard, to have to constantly take care that he doesn’t break something, or someone.’

Many of the examinees who had initially run away had begun to trickle back, some of them whispering to each other and pointing at the broken kid. It made Chell feel nothing but anger; not only at them, for coming back only when the danger had passed, but also at herself.

‘That would have been me,’ she thought. ‘If he hadn’t stepped in, I would have run off, telling myself that it wasn’t my problem. What would Dad say if he saw me? Would I even be able to face him? Would I even deserve to get in, regardless of my points?’

Chell idly noted the crowds parting as Ms Shuzenji walked forward, a trio of Vortigaunts following after her.

‘I need to make this right,’ Chell decided. ‘No matter what, he deserves to get into U.A., even if he doesn’t have any points. He has to.’

Just to put it out there, whoever correctly guesses the inspiration for Chell’s friend at Somei, you get an O.C. put into the story. And yes, she will be making future appearances.

Anyway, onto the chapter. Did you know that the villain bots were named after star destroyers? Interestingly, even though the three-pointers, Venators, are the largest, Venator-class Star Destroyers were actually smaller than Imperial-class Star Destroyers. However, the zero-pointers, Executors, definitely deserve their position as the big daddies of the villain bots, since the Executor-class Star Destroyers are MASSIVE! They were almost 20 km (12.42 miles) in length! I don’t know, I found it neet. There’s also a bunch of other Star Wars references in MHA as a matter of fact. All For One’s mask was apparently based on Vader’s, since they’re both incredibly powerful villains, yet despite that power, they both require a breathing apparatus to survive. Then there are the names of cities and what not, so plenty of references all round.

I was going to have Rikido’s perspective of his practical exam, but the chapter’s long enough as is, and I’m late already, so I’ll do that next chapter. Because of that, this means we have one more chapter in the exam arc, which will cover Rikido and the final member of our main quartet. Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen, who will it be? 

Not much else to say in all honesty. Some world building, some father-daughter moments with Chell and Hizashi, some friendship (for now) moments with Chell and Rikido, and some not-so-friendly banter with Chell and Tenya. And yes, Tenya wasn’t in Izuku’s testing ground, since we know that students from the same school are split up into different testing grounds to make it fair, so he didn’t see Izuku’s moment of heroism.

Anyway, onto the reviews.

TheGigaGamer75: Just to clarify, the Freed, while highly zealous, have an issue with Japan minimising the value of quirks. The Freed view their quirks as a part of them, and probably the most important part, due to what they view their quirks/powers/meta abilities as. While important, it’s still only a part. There’s another religion that I did mention a few chapters back who have an even weirder (and honestly crueler) view on specific quirks, but that won’t be mentioned until the Sports Festival. Fear not, Eli and Chell will get along decently to start with, and it’s less of a burnt bridge and more like two guys on different sides of a river throwing insults at each other (point to anyone who gets the reference). And yeah, discrimination is rampant in Japan, not only in canon, but also in real life. You’d be surprised (or might not, idk) that Japan is regarded as one of the most racist countries in the world, due to their ridiculously high ethnocentrism (Intercultural Communication paper buzzwords go brr). And yeah, Papa Yamada is making full use of the fact that he’s a radio host with no company oversight.

Atromitos1526: Aww, thanks for the praise. I’m glad you like my depiction of Chell, and I agree, she absolutely takes a vow of silence just to piss people off (as we’ll see in the future…)

StarWanderer's Writing: Oh, Chell would want to out perform everyone as a matter of pride, but spite would absolutely be a driving point. Interesting that you mention Katsuki’s distaste for Chell on the specific grounds of her being an Outlander. On one hand, I can see this, but on the other, I wonder if Katsuki would respect her more for it (and the fact that she mocked Tenya, which is something Katsuki would probably want to do himself.) And yeah, Chell would be more than willing to throw down. For your character idea, I’ll keep it in mind. I still want some original characters to join the League of Villains (aside from another who will be a member and key point in the plot), so maybe? Probably if the Combine assassin is a member of a holdout faction of the Combine, hoping that it's their masters returning. Might be a way to add Adrian Walker from Entropy: Zero into the story. I’ll think about it.

ultima-owner: Yeah, Hizashi’s dragging them through the radio mud (or whatever the expression would be). As for Headcrab, it is edible, we know that from Half Life 2, and yes, it would only be the normal Headcrabs. I’d assume somewhat tasty, maybe like actual crab? Maybe chicken, but then again, everything apparently tastes like chicken…

123 (Guest): Yeah, unfortunately Japanese schools do have discrimination when it comes to quirks, not only on if you have a quirk or not, but also what kind of quirk you have (poor Shinso). As for your question, no, that wasn’t intentional, I’m wasn’t actually aware those games existed.

grindy_rust_rustbucket (Guest): Oh, Chell absolutely would punch anyone who threw hands first (she’s down to fight, but she’s not an idiot). As for rank, I initially thought he wouldn’t be that high on the list of Pro Heroes since he’s a teacher. Teaching seems to take up most of their time, so there wouldn’t be much left over after lessons are planned and what not. Turns out, he’s actually ranked No. 42. Guess when you’re a teacher at THE hero school in Japan, you get quite a bit of fame, alongside his radio station. And sure, he could very easily do a smear campaign, and Nezu would very willingly, let’s say remove, any threats to his employees, but I imagine any CEO parents would have a decent PR team on standby. And I would agree, being a Pro hero would likely come with some caveats on what future professions you can take. I imagine this would be a law from the old days, when quirks were a new thing that only the vast minority were born with. Similar to how the quirks laws of the modern day aren’t suited since they were written to combat the issues of a different time, those hypothetical laws were probably written to prevent the rising of a god-king or something, due to the power that someone with a quirk would have over a quirkless population. And I agree, Pro Heroes would also have to be publicly politically neutral, something I wish sports stars, film stars and other celebrities did, since most of them have had less schooling than Greta Thunburg (good ol’ Ricky Gervais.)

BloodOrKetchup: Funny you should mention that, I had this idea for a while. Looked up the paradox level in Portal 2 and everything. 

Penguin-man (Guest): Not only could it work, it worked like a charm. But once the machines shut down with only a word, I feel Chell would start to find it boring without the chance to destroy them herself. 

Defenetly-Not-Ai (Guest): Hmm, suspicious name aside, I appreciate the praise and feedback. I’m actually quite proud of the world building for this is, since unlike my other series I’m publishing and the majority of series I have planned, this one requires some maneuvering, since Japan only has twelve cities. Of course, if a city is destroyed, that’s big news…

Anyway, with that ominous foreshadowing, I’ll leave you with next chapter's title, being ‘Sugar, Stealth, and Shame’ . We wrap up the Entrance Exam with this one, folks.

See y’all next time (I’ll try not be late, I swear)

- Jevm

Chapter Text

Throughout the various testing grounds of the U.A. Entrance Exam, from Training Ground Alpha all the way to Training Ground Omega, almost all of the competing students fought against their mechanical opponents with their various quirks, using them to keep their distance. 

Sato Rikido was not like other students.

“Orah!” he yelled out loud, bending his back as he suplexed the flailing one-pointer into the concrete. The ground fragmented underneath him, and with the machine’s movements halting the moment it had registered that sufficient damage had been dealt to its chassis, it allowed Rikido to roll away, resting in a crouch as he looked around.

“I think that makes it fifty-seven,” Rikido guessed, glancing over at the sparking villain bot. “I wonder how many points Yamada’s gathered.”

All of a sudden, Rikido’s eyes closed as his mouth widened into a yawn, a sudden wave of lethargy washing over him.

“Oh man, gotta have another one,” he muttered, reaching into a pouch on his belt, pulling out a sugar cube and popping it into his mouth, the sugary mass quickly dissolving, and with it his sleepiness disappeared.

“I hope I brought enough sugar cubes,” Rikido said as he stood up, dusting off stray pieces of broken concrete from his shoulders and hair. “Wouldn’t be a good look if I passed out mid-test from a sugar crash.”

The sound of a rumbling engine from behind him caused Rikido to whirl around, quickly catching sight of a Venator-model villain bot, the three emblazoned on its side. Rikido’s eyes quickly glanced up at the villain bot’s missile pods, a grin stretching across his face as he saw they were all empty. 

“All you’ve got left is your strength, huh?” Rikido challenged, lowering his body while holding out his hands. “Then let's see who has the bigger muscles!”

The three-pointer blared its horn as a challenge, its speed picking up as it charged Rikido. Yet rather than moving out of its path or running away, Rikido held his ground, his legs tensing. The two figures collided, the ground breaking beneath the two forces, flesh and steel fighting to see who was stronger. Even though the Venator was much, much larger than Rikido, so large that Rikido was only able to grapple with one of its hands, its size was also a disadvantage, as it was only able to use one hand, due to the other being too far away and too imobile. 

Gritting his teeth and tensing his muscles, Rikido dug in his heels, ensuring he had a good footing for what he was about to do. While a minute ago he wouldn’t have had the required strength, with the latest boost that the sugar cube had caused, it was just enough.

With a roar of exertion, Rikido lifted the Venator’s arm, then higher, before spinning on his heel, hauling the giant machine over his shoulder. The villain bot slammed into the ground upside down, its wheels uselessly spinning for a moment before they cut off, the lights in the machine’s head winking out. 

Rikido doubled over, his hands pressing into his thighs as they supported his tired body, his chest rising and falling as he gasped for air.

“I think that’s the biggest thing I ever tried to lift,” Rikido said, using the hem of his shirt with mop up sweat that covered his brow. “Was it from the extra sugar? I really should have tried to find out if there were any more parts to my quirk before the test. Damn it, Rikido, why were you so dumb?!”

“Leave me alone!” a feminine scream shouted, instantly grabbing Rikido’s attention. Looking over to the source of the noise, Rikido saw the oddest sight of his life so far: a floating set of clothing being chased by a one-pointer, a broken off pipe stuck into its side.

“I’m sorry for trying to kill you!” the floating pair of clothes wailed. “At least give me a second to take off my clothes so you can’t see me!”

Doing his utmost to ignore the question of whether or not that sight would be lewd, Rikido shook his head in an effort to dispel the growing fog of lethargy, even if only temporary, before dashing forward.

“Out of the way!” he yelled, his arms pumping by his sides as he sprinted towards and then past the invisible girl. Fortunately for Rikido, the programming in the villain bots meant that once they had locked onto a target, they wouldn’t change until either the villain bot was defeated or the target had evaded them for a sufficient length of time. The very programming that made the machine persistently chase the invisible girl meant that it never saw Rikido coming.

Right as the villain bot passed his side, Rikido lashed out with his arm, his forearm catching the one-pointer on its neck in a clothesline, causing it to fall to the ground as it became unbalanced by its upper body being brought to a screeching halt while its lower half tried to continue onwards. While the Victory-model of villain bots were fast, not only were they fragile and relatively weak, but they also struggled to right themselves when knocked over, a fact that Rikido took full advantage of. Dashing towards the wreckage of the three-pointer that lay nearby, Rikido leapt onto it, clambering higher and higher before turning around, taking a few steps back on the large machine’s chassis before sprinting forward, leaping into the air. Beneath him, sprawled on the ground, the one-pointer continued to struggle to right itself, and it would have managed to make some progress if it wasn’t for the invisible girl crouched next to it, her extended sleeves towards the machines indicating that she was doing her all to hold it down.

“Sugar Slam!” Rikido yelled as he fell, his downward-pointing elbow slamming into the torso of the villain bot, performing a textbook diving elbow drop. The one-pointer seemed to fold in two as Rikido’s elbow buried itself deep into the machine’s body, lubricant and oil coating his elbow.

Rikido got back onto his feet, nudging the robot with his foot to confirm that it was defeated.

“Oh wow!” he heard a voice gush from next to him, causing him to turn to find the invisible girl standing close to him, supposedly looking up at him given her posture. “Man, you’re a real lifesaver! I thought that robot was never going to stop chasing me.”

“It’s no problem,” Rikido casually shrugged. “Thanks for holding it down. I’m not sure if I'd have been able to land in time if you weren’t there.”

“Oh, it was nothing,” the girl dismissed with a bashful tone, the sleeve of her arm waving near her face before it shot out. “I’m Hagakure Toru, nice to meet you!”

“Oh, Sato Rikido,” Rikido answered, cautiously extending his own hand, not sure where the invisible girl’s hand would be before she reached out, grasping his hand in hers, rigorously shaking it up and down.

“Nice to meet ya, Sato,” she said with a joyous tone. “Hey, just wondering, but how many points have you gotten so far?”

“Sixty-one after that one-pointer,” Rikido explained. “Well, I think it's sixty-one. My quirk kinda makes it hard to concentrate, so I might have missed one or two.”

“Oh wow!” Hagaguke bounced with excitement. “I got fifty-three, so that means we're pretty close in terms of points!”

Rikido's eyes bulged at Hagakure's enthusiastic words. “F-Fifty-three?! How'd you get so many when you were running away from that one-pointer?! I was only able to get as many points as I did because my quirk enhances my physical abilities.”

“ Ehe ,” Hagakure nervously chuckled, the sleeve of her shirt raising up as the front of her shoe ground into the pavement. “Um, well, that's because the villain bots all have a deactivation button on them. You hit that and they shut down instantly. For anyone else it might be a problem, but since my body's invisible they have a really hard time keeping track of me. Well, until I got cocky and tried to actually defeat one of them. And, well, you saw how badly that went.”

“But your clothes are visible,” Rikido pointed out. “Can’t they see you that way?”

“I mean sure, it’s possible, but they find it harder to notice me because I don’t have any visible body parts,” Hagakure explained. “And besides, if they do notice me, I can just take my clothes off, like so.”

Rikido blushed and hurriedly looked away as Hagakure shamelessly pulled her shirt off, the only indication that she was there being the pants and shoes she wore.

“Aw, are you embarrassed?” she teased, poking his cheek as he maintained his gaze as far away from her as possible. “Don’t worry, you can’t see anything.”

“But still,” Rikido protested, “you’re still a girl who’s taken off her shirt. I don’t think I should look, even if there isn’t anything to see.”

“Hey, don’t say it like that!” Hagakure cried out in indignation. “You make it seem like I’ve got a boy’s chest! Guys at my school have paid top dollar for me to flash them!”

Rikido frowned at that statement, because while it seemed to have been a boast, Hagakure hadn’t sounded like it was something to brag about. His confusion must have been clearly written on his face, because Hagakure sighed, and even though he couldn’t see her, he could imagine her shoulders slumping.

“Well, the old me would’ve,” she confessed. “There were plenty of guys who loved the idea that I was willing to flash them for money. It didn’t matter that they couldn’t see anything, or that they weren’t allowed to touch me, but the intrigue and knowledge that a girl was showing her chest in front of them made it worth it in their eyes. And sure, the money was nice and all, but the attention I’d get, the fact that people would notice me, a girl who was born completely, totally, permanently invisible, that was what made it worthwhile. Or at least, that’s what I told myself. It took a big shock in my life to make me want to turn my life around, get back on the straight and narrow, you know?”

Rikido struggled to find any words to respond with. After all, what could he say to that, when a girl he had only just met had bared her heart to him.

“I never really had a choice to be a hero,” he began. “My name is Sato, but that’s because my mother decided to take my father’s family name. I’m from the Kinniku family, who’ve been heroes since quirks were a thing, and then freedom fighters and resistance members when the Combine ruled over Earth. Every male, no matter what, has been a hero, so the moment I was born, that was what I was raised to be, just the same as what my sons, if I have any, will be one day.”

Nearby in the city, a horn blared and the ground trembled as the zero-pointer emerged from within a building, beginning its rampage in the final minute of the test. The destruction wrought, however, was largely ignored by Rikido as he turned to face Hagakure, a reassuring, if uncertain, smile on his face.

“Even though we have different reasons for it, I guess we’re both trying to understand what kind of hero we want to be, right? I mean, that’s why you applied at U.A., to find out if you could be a hero, someone who rescues others, yeah?”

Hagakure was silent, and her lack of visible features made it difficult for Rikido to guess what her reaction was.

“Man, how’d we get to this depressing topic?” she asked aloud, putting her shirt back on as she laughed to herself. Reaching into a pocket, she pulled out a white glove, one that her right hand quickly wore.

“Let’s start over,” she said, thrusting out her now visible hand. “Hi, my name’s Hagakure! I’m going to be a hero at U.A. Let’s be friends!”

Rikido smiled at her words, reaching out with his right hand to grasp her gloved one. “And my name’s Sato. I’m going to be a hero at U.A., and I’m going to discover what kind of hero I’ll be.”

“ And it’s all over! ” came the voice of Present Mic over the training ground’s speakers, bringing an end to the test.

“Welp, guess the test’s over,” Hagakure said, her hand placed on her hip. “Are you heading straight back home?”

“Well, not right away,” Rikido said as he and his new friend walked towards the exit of their testing ground. “I’m meeting up with a friend of mine, and her dad is one of the teachers here, so I’ll wait around for her.”

“Oh, mind if I join?” Hagakure eagerly asked. “No one from my school is taking the entrance exam, and I’ve got nowhere to be! The friend of my friend is also my friend, as they say.”

“Does anyone really say that?” Rikido asked in a good-natured tone. “And I don’t see why not. I’m sure Yamada won’t mind.”

Outside of the training ground, Rikido and Hagakure boarded the bus that would take them back to the main campus. It was during the short ride that the pair of them, having decided to sit together, overheard their fellow students talking about how they did in the practical, either bragging about how many points they earned, lamenting over how badly they did, or swapping amusing strategies they used to gain points.

“Seems like we got the most points,” Hagakure quietly giggled. “I think that means we're almost guaranteed to get in.”

“No joke,” Rikido nodded. “I was a little nervous about how many points I'd earned, but I haven't heard anyone mention anything over forty.”

Rikido's attention was dragged away as his phone chimed, which when he opened it showed a message from Yamada, telling him that she was going to be delayed getting to the U.A. entrance since she needed to talk to her dad about something first.

“Follow me, Yamada should be at the teachers’ lounge,” Rikido said as he and Hagakure stepped off the bus, and rather than join the flow of students walking towards the exit, they walked back towards the main U.A. building. Rikido knew that Yamada would know her way around like the back of her hand, given how she stayed at U.A. on Saturdays since her father was a teacher there, but Rikido was able to find where to go after asking for directions from a passing teacher.

“Is that her?” Hagakure asked as they neared the teachers’ lounge. Rikido looked ahead, immediately noticing his friend pulling back from an embrace she shared with her father, her dark brown hair contrasting against her caretaker’s bright blond. She turned around, walking out of the teachers’ lounge while waving goodbye to her father over her shoulder with one hand, the other reaching up to rub her eyes.

“Yamada,” Rikido called out, causing his friend’s head to look up as he and Hagakure walked over. “Glad to see you made it through the practical in one piece.”

“Yeah, something like that,” she muttered with a subdued voice, her hand pulling away from rubbing her red eyes, something that Rikido couldn’t help but notice.

“Hey, you alright?” he asked, reaching out and gently placing a hand on Yamada’s shoulder. “Did something go wrong?”

“No, it’s okay,” Yamada insisted, though she didn’t shrug his hand off her shoulder. “Just, needed to get something off my chest, and ask Dad for some advice, that’s all.”

She opened her mouth to say more before her eyes shifted towards Rikido’s side, right where Hagakure was standing. 

“And you are…?”

“Hi, I’m Hagakure,” the invisible girl cheerfully greeted. “Sato and I were in the same training grounds, he saved me from a one-pointer, and we became friends! And you’re Yamada, right?”

“Uh, yeah, nice to meet you,” Yamada nodded, walking alongside them as the trio backtracked through the hallways towards the exit. “So, your quirk makes you…”

“Completely invisible? Yeah,” Hagakure said. “My body causes light to bend around it, meaning that I’m completely invisible on all spectrums of light. Sure, it means no one can ever see me, and if I want to be completely invisible I have to strip naked, but hey, all powers have their downsides, right?”

“You didn’t look, right?” Yamada growled at Rikido, giving him a suspicious stink eye.

“Of course not!” he protested with a red, embarrassed face. “She was wearing clothes when we met, and I turned away when she took her shirt off!”

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Hagakure said, saving Rikido from a wrathful Yamada. “He was really polite when I took my shirt off, rather than trying to catch an eyeful like some other guys I’ve met.”

“Still, to have to be naked to properly use your powers is terrible,” Yamada winced. “How do you deal with it?”

“Oh, it’s no big deal for me,” Hagakure admitted. “No one’s able to see anything anyway, so there’s no issue with my decency. And besides, it’s kinda hot, you know, where it’s like everyones looking at you but they can’t see anything?”

“Uh, sure?” Yamada hesitantly agreed. “To each their own, I guess. You must have…”

Her voice trailed off as she focused on a student that was walking towards them, heading to the teachers’ offices. She had brown hair cut into a bob, faint blush marks on her pale cheeks, with a few dirty marks and oil stains on her clothes and skin. She was walking with a worried, downcast expression, only to look up as they got closer, her eyes widening as they landed on Yamada.

“Oh, you’re the girl who saved me!” she cheerfully greeted, jogging up to Yamada and grasping her hands. “I wanted to thank you for what you did back there; it was very brave and kind of you.”

“We both know I’m not the person you should be thanking,” Yamada objected with a sad, resigned tone, causing the brunette to flinch before reluctantly nodding.

“Um, did you guys just come from the teachers’ lounge?” she asked, an embarrassed look on her face as she rubbed the back of her head. “Could you give me some directions? This place is like a maze.”

“Just down the hall, take a left, and keep going,” Yamada explained, pointing behind her with a thumb pointed over her shoulder. “The door’ll be on your left.”

“Thanks,” the girl said, walking past the group only to stop next to Yamada, hesitating before she spoke. “Did, did you speak to them about…”

“Yeah, I did,” Yamada sighed, looking at the ground. “Dad thinks he’ll be fine, but I had to make sure. He deserves to be here more than anyone. Even if it’s the General Studies Course, he deserves that chance.”

“Yeah, he does,” the girl agreed, only for her eyebrows to furrow in confusion. “Wait, your Dad?”

“I’m Present Mic’s daughter,” Chell said, giving a small smile. “Thought it would be fine to try and use some nepotism to bend the rules a little bit.”

“Oh, uh, yeah, I can really see the resemblance,” the girl nervously agreed as she ran off down the hallway, calling out over her shoulder, “Well, thanks again, Miss Mic! Hope I see you in class!”

“Yeah, see ya,” Yamada quietly said.

“What was that about?” Rikido asked, knowing that Yamada probably wouldn’t want to talk about it, but his concern for his friend’s behaviour was more pressing. “Wanna talk about it?”

“Nah, it’s nothing,” Yamada dismissed, waving away the issue with a forced smile. “Just something that happened at the end of the test.”

Rikido knew she was covering something up, but he also knew that it wasn’t his place to start digging if Yamada wasn’t comfortable.

“Anyway, enough about me,” Yamada diverted, changing the focus of their conversation. “So, Hagakure, right? Tell me about how your test went?”

-]l[-

Chell sat motionless in her room, staring down at her desk. While the surface was littered with odd nicknacks here and there, photo frames containing images of Chell and her friends, the pink hair of Shikaku a reoccurring sight. And yet, Chell didn't pay any of these any attention, her gaze solely focused on the small white envelope that sat on her desk. The letter from U.A. had arrived over half an hour ago, and yet Chell hadn't made any attempt to open it yet, remaining lost in her own thoughts and doubts.

‘What if it's a rejection letter?’ she thought for the thousandth time. ‘What if my hesitation made them think I didn't deserve to get in?’

Round and round the thoughts went, and no matter the reasoning she tried to give herself, that feeling of doubt and unworthiness was always there, lurking in the back of her mind.

Chell's eyes finally wandered away from the envelope, drifting over the photos of her friends on her desk, larger, more important moments framed on her wall, side by side with posters and images of Pro Heroes who she admired, with their signature being the only marks.

Her eyes finally settled on a photo of herself and Sato, the pair proudly standing behind a misshapen black forest cake. Chell smiled as she picked up the picture frame, remembering the day it had been taken. The summer holidays had arrived, and Chell and her father had gone down to Hiroshima for the weekend, partly for work, but also to catch up with the Satos. She had managed to convince Sato Rikido to help her with baking a black forest cake, giving her directions and advice, even if Chell had insisted that she do everything herself. While the result wasn't pretty, the effort the pair had put into it made the end result taste all the better.

‘Rikido would get in for sure,’ Chell thought to herself, gently rubbing her thumb across the glass over Sato's face. ‘He leapt in to save Hagakure, even though they were meant to be competing against each other. But I only saved someone when someone else acted first.’

Chell sighed, gently placing the photo frame back in its place on the desk before looking down at the untouched envelope with a firm gaze.

“Moment of truth, Chell,” she said to herself, grasping the edges of the envelope and tearing it open. Rather than a letter falling out, a small, round metal disk clattered onto the desk. Before Chell had an opportunity to poke at it and see what it was, the centre of the disk lit up, causing an image to appear suspended in the air, accompanied by a boisterous laughter.

“ Ha ha ha! I am here as a projection! ” 

Chell's mouth dropped as she saw All Might, the greatest hero in Japan and the world's Symbol of Peace, appear before her. Rather than his usual red, white and blue hero costume, All Might was dressed in a yellow pinstripe suit with a blue tie. 

“ Well done, young Yamada! ” All Might congratulated with a smile. “ While you may have placed in the middle of your fellow examinees in the written test, you did exceedingly well in the practical, where you managed to gather seventy-two villain points! Wowee! You definitely managed to pass with those scores! ”

While Chell should have felt ecstatic at passing, she couldn’t help but feel hollow inside, as if she didn’t deserve it.

“ Now, while you may have gathered an incredible number of villain points, the second highest amongst your examinees, in fact, that wasn’t all there was to the test! ” All Might revealed. “ You see, we weren’t just watching for villain-based points! For what kind of hero course wouldn’t reward those who do the right thing?! Afterall, in this job, you risk your life to rescue those in need! Rescue points were also a factor here! Another fundamental way for U.A. to evaluate their prospective students! So take a look at this! ”

All Might turned his torso, pulling a remote out of his pocket as pointing it towards a screen in the background, causing it to come to life. There, images and footage of Chell rescuing the trapped girl and catching the green-haired boy played out before her.

“ For your heroic actions in saving both young Uraraka and young Midoriya, our panel of judges awarded you forty-seven rescue points! ” All Might declared. “ Thus your grand total of points gathered in the practical portion of the U.A. Entrance Exam comes to a staggering one hundred and nineteen, not only securing your spot in U.A. Hero Course, but also awarding you first place in the practical portion as well as setting a new record! ”

All Might held his hand out in the projection, palm up as if wanting Chell to grasp it through the hologram.

“ You, young Yamada, have passed our exam with flying colours! ” All Might proudly declared. “ And yes, I didn’t say that wrong! For you are looking at the newest member of U.A.’s faculty, their latest, and possibly greatest, Heroics Teacher! I look forward to seeing you in my class, Yamada Chell! Welcome, to your Hero Academy! ”

The hologram projector on Chell’s desk winked off, plunging the room once more into a near darkness, silent aside from the sounds of Chell’s shaky breathing. She slowly got up from her desk, walking into the light of the hallway, mindlessly moving until she stepped into the lounge where her father, Uncle Shota and Aunt Nemuri lounged on the couches. They paused mid-conversation, looking over at Chell with excited, hopeful expression.

“So, how’d it go?” her father grinned.

“Principal Nezu hasn’t told us how you did in the exam,” Aunt Nemuri explained. “Hizashi was the presenter, while I was assigned to monitor a different testing ground.”

Chell hesitated for a moment, the news still processing in her mind, before a shaky grin grew on her face, tears of joy welling in her eyes.

“I came first,” she choked out, just managing to get the words past her lips before the first sobbing laugh hit, laughing while crying tears of joy.

Her family’s reaction was immediate, Aunt Nemuri leaping off the couch to pull Chell into a tight hug, pulling the young girl’s head into her aunt’s sizable chest, the older woman laughing and twisting with excitement. Her father wasn’t far behind, prying Chell loose from her Aunt’s affections to embrace his daughter, an embrace that Chell quickly returned. Even Uncle Shota, a usually reserved and sullen man, a mix of his usual lack of sleep, his withdrawn personality and a jaded worldview, was quick to give Chell a genuine, immensely proud grin, hugging Chell and her father, which quickly prompted Aunt Nemuri to join in on the group hug. 

“I told you you’d be fine,” her father whispered to her, his arms tightening around her. “You have no idea how proud I am right now.”

“How proud we are,” Aunt Nemuri corrected, supported by an affirmative grunt from Uncle Shota.

“I don’t know,” Chell teased, her grinning face buried into her father’s shoulder. “I’m feeling it pretty clearly right now.”

Okay, and that’s a wrap. Full transparency, I was going to have Izuku’s reaction to him passing the entrance exam, but since that was basically the same as canon with the added scene of Chell asking Hizashi if she could give him enough of her own points for him to get into the General Studies course, I thought it wasn’t worth putting in. 

Okay, so we saw Rikido’s practical exam, and I’ve been doing some research on wrestling moves both for this as well as the future. Rikido’s fighting style in canon is “punch thing really hard until it stops moving or I stop moving.” Which is, to put it bluntly, really damn boring. Fortunately, I’ve decided to overhaul his fighting style and his quirk, details being released in the future. I’ve basically changed some parts of it to allow for further growth, something that I feel Rikido and Hanta severely missed out on in canon.

Other than that, we also got the reveal that Chell took first place in the entrance exam. I mean, did anyone else expect otherwise? She had a free, near limitless supply of machines and robots to beat the crap out of. No wonder she was five villain points shy of Bakugo’s own score, and he’s a walking explosion! Then when you add the rescue points, Chell rockets up in the rankings. As I’ve said in a separate series, rescue points are O.P. in the exam, potentially doubling your score. And of course, it wouldn’t be Chell if she didn’t have some self doubts. Not as bad as they used to be, but she’s only been free for about a year and two months now, so she still hasn’t gotten the worst of her doubts and old mentality out of her system. 

Anyway, I think that’s enough of my rambling, time for reviews.

Kornuptiko: Thanks for reading it!

TheGigaGamer75: I’ll address your comment on your comment, I read all of the comments of my work (and it’s gone fine so far…) so don’t worry, only the updated one will be addressed. Yes, in Chell’s eyes, Izuku went from a clumsy kid who is little more than a distraction for her, all the way to the embodiment of selflessness. As for her hesitation, Chell still has the issues of being a street rat and later a lab rat, so intentionally putting herself in danger goes against how she has survived for as long as she has. And I’m glad you noticed that reference, thought that would be Chell’s reasoning for why someone so skitish and timid could have so much power; he’s terrified of hurting those around him, something she’ll mention next chapter.

Atromitos1526: Ey, happy birthday! I’m glad you’re liking the series so far, and to be honest, I’m kinda torn. On one hand, I could see her being part of the anti-conspiracy team, putting forth logical reasons that, in any other situation, should be the correct answer, but because this is anime, it’s actually the most outlandish answers that are correct (even though Todoroki was completely off when it came to Midoriya’s powers). She probably wouldn’t make the connection though; remember, Chell has been in Japan for little over a year. While she does know All Might, since it would be impossible not to know him even if she didn’t have Pro Heroes for an adoptive family, she’s still adjusting to the fact she’s in a hero society. 

Knight of the Flame: Glad you liked Chell’s development, I’m glad it turned out well when trying to show how she’s adapting/recovering over the span of a year in only a few chapters. As for the reference, I can safely say it has nothing to do with Naruto. Nice guess though.

StarWanderer's Writing: Glad you liked Chell’s use of her quirk. As for your villain ideas, maybe the Hivehand one, but definitely not the Vortigaunts. Vortigaunts are much more fanatical when it comes to worshipping the One Free Man, since he is their liberator on two separate occasions. For them, it would be heretical to use their quirks for evil intentions, since it would be like when they were enslaved by the Nihilanth. 

ultima-owner: Shota’s definitely not a role model when it comes to a healthy sleep schedule. I’m convinced that the juice packets he consumes like a junky aren’t juice, or even coffee for that matter, but pure, undistilled caffeine. My boi needs a solid eight hours of sleep, preferably on Ms Joke’s lap (those two deserve to be together, I’ll fight anyone who says otherwise). And true, paradoxes are effective against nerds and machines, say one and watch them shutdown.

i_really_should_be_sleeping: To be fair, the machines have shown some level of sentience. From complaining to each other, threatening to Skynet the world, or other remarks and insults, the robots of U.A. are strangely intelligent. Hell, I might have a b-plot of Maijima Higari (Power Loader) basing their design and programming off some machines he found. He does have a quirk well suited to tunneling after all. As for Chell and Uraraka, they could get along decently well, but then again, Uraraka is friendly with all of the girls of U.A. Now that I think about it, Chell and Uraraka could bond over the fact that they both grew up in poverty (Chell is a literal street rat, while Uraraka is known to skip meals to save food or sleep to save oxygen.) As for shipping them, while to each their own, that won’t be happening. Uraraka is locked in with her future relationship, as is Chell. 

mariic: It does and yet it doesn’t. The machines screams, for it does not know which is more correct.

🐸Frogit (Guest): Glad you liked my depiction of Chell, too many authors seem cautious against their characters making mistakes or bad choices. I mean, let’s all be honest, no one alive has done everything in life perfectly, and I could say that even if I wasn’t religious. So fear not, characters will make mistakes and bad moves if I think it lines up with their personality and situation. Afterall, if you’re grieving and angry, there are plenty of mistakes that can be made…

I’ll leave that ominous foreshadowing there, make of it what you will. For your sneak peek for next chapter, it is titled, ‘ An Unusual First Day ’. Here we go, ladies and gents, the school year begins now.

See y’all next time.

- Jevm

Chapter Text

Hizashi had been a father to a teenage girl for over a year now, and in that time he had learnt a few things.

First of all, they were in the middle of their hormonal stage. Hizashi understood it, really, he did, having a younger sister himself, but he would appreciate not having to pull Chell off of some racist punk, or an elitist punk, or a generic punk who thought it was a good idea to pick on his daughter.

Secondly, they loved to use new, modern lingo that seemed specifically designed to confuse people who were older listening to it. Hizashi thought of himself as pretty hip, understanding plenty of modern slang, but the terms that kids were coming up with these days was almost too much for Hizashi of all people to keep up with.

Thirdly, and this was more specific for his daughter rather than teenage girls in general, but Chell had turned out to be a rebellious child. Not towards him, thankfully, but certainly in other areas. Aside from the numerous fights she got into at Somei, Hizashi had been called into the local police station more times than he could count over Chell being detained for illegal quirk usage, and those were only the times she was seen doing it. Her taste in music and Pro Heroes seemed to reflect this also. Hizashi didn't discriminate when it came to music, but Chell certainly preferred more angry, punk music, especially anything from M1KA. She also idolised Pro Heroes who were less inclined to follow the rules, like Mirko, while also dismissing stricter Pros, like Endeavor and Ingenium; the latter might have to do with the rivalry between her and Ingenium's younger brother. 

To be perfectly honest, Hizashi couldn't blame anyone but himself for Chell's rebel attitude; Hizashi was just the same in his youth, maintained it as he got older, and Shota and Nemuri certainly hadn't discouraged Chell's chaffing against societal standards.

But fourth and finally, Hizashi found that teenagers were always filled with either too much energy or too little energy, and it was never in-between.

“Chell, wake up!” Hizashi yelled, his fist thumping against his daughter's door. “You need to get ready for school!”

“Five more minutes,” she groaned, her voice barely audible.

“I've already given you three of those!” Hizashi retorted, deciding enough was enough. Normally Hizashi would respect his daughter's privacy and only enter when she was okay with it, but desperate times called for desperate measures, leading to him opening the door and barging into her room. The light from the hallways gave some light to the room, enough that Hizashi was able to see the lump on Chell’s bed, an obvious indicator of his daughter burying herself within her sheets.

“Up and at ‘em, kiddo!” Hizashi said all too loudly, for the time of delicateness had long since passed. Gripping the edge of the sheets, Hizashi tried pulling them off his daughter, only to encounter incredible resistance as he tried to do so.

“Chell, stop resisting!” Hizashi growled, putting his back into the task.

“Stop!” Chell whined within the blankets. “It’s cold and I’m tired.”

“It’s your first day at U.A., why are you being so stubborn?!” Hizashi asked, giving up on the impossible task of overpowering his daughter’s hold on the blankets, taking a step back and placing his hands on his hips. “You were so excited for this yesterday. Why didn’t you go to bed early to avoid this?”

The room was silent for a moment before a quiet mumble could be heard from within the blankets. 

“I was too excited to fall asleep.”

Hizashi blinked at that in surprise before smiling, a chuckle desperately held within his mouth, his hands slapping over his jaw to try and contain them. But it was too much to hold back as Hizashi grabbed his stomach as he doubled over in laughter.

“It’s not funny!” Chell indignantly yelled, bursting out from the blankets. “Dad, stop laughing!”

“B-But,” Hizashi wheezed, “it’s so cliche!”

“Jeez, fine, I’m up,” Chell grumbled, climbing out of bed.

“Breakfast will be waiting for you,” Hizashi called out over his shoulder, still chuckling as he closed the door behind him as he left the room. He’d already had his breakfast, but it wasn’t an issue to prepare another slice of toast and spread a sweet fruit jam on it. For as much of a delinquent his daughter was, she still had an incredibly strong sweet tooth.

It only took a few minutes of Chell to change into her new uniform, trudging into the living room and bonelessly flopping onto the chair where her breakfast was placed. 

“Thanks,” she muttered before biting into her toast; her tone could’ve easily been mistaken as disrespect, but Hizashi knew it was simply because she was tired. Wordlessly, he stood behind her chair, grabbing a nearby brush and gently running it through his daughter’s hair, working out any knots that had formed overnight. The now straightened hair was pulled back into a simple ponytail, his daughter’s preferred style, a plain black hair tie holding it all together.

“Okay, let me have a quick look over,” Hizashi said once Chell finished with her toast, prompting her to stand in front of him. Hizashi made a few minute changes, adjusting her tie to the left while straightening her blazer, before stepping back with a smile.

“So, whaddya think of your uniform?” he asked, causing Chell to look down at her clothing.

“It’s alright,” she admitted. “At least I can choose what shoes I can wear this time.”

“Yeah, Somei really was strict on that, weren’t they?” Hizashi chuckled. “But hey, at least you could put in a custom order for the P.E. uniform.”

“Yeah, no way was I gonna cut holes in all of them for my stilts,” Chell huffed, glancing down at the metal jutting out of the back of her legs. Hizashi thought she’d made good progress with Hound Dog in regards to the experiments done on her; she no longer viewed them as a mutilation, but simply as a part of her. Even though she did so out of spite, Hizashi greatly preferred that to her always being touchy about them; her ability to so casually refer to them as ‘stilts’ showed how far she’d come.

“What?” she asked, making Hizashi realise he’d been staring at her.

“It’s nothing,” he smiled, reaching down to pick up her bag, holding it in front of him. “Come on, kiddo. We should be able to make it to the station on time if we take Loud Cloud. Don’t want to be late on your first day, do we?”

“Woohoo!” Chell cheered, perking up as she raced to the closet where their helmets and other biking gear were stored. “So worth it staying up late!”

Her excitement lasted all the way until they boarded the train, her energy fading instantly the moment she laid down on the bed in their luxury cabin, falling asleep immediately. Hizashi smirked as he watched his daughter sleep, remembering times when he had done the same.

He passed the time going over his teaching plans for the semester, making sure that everything was in order and nothing had been forgotten. It wasn’t long before the train arrived at Yokohama City, and with Hizashi deciding that Chell needed the extra sleep, gently picked her up, carrying her on his back as he walked to the U.A. platform. Aside from a few occasional looks of sympathy and amusement from fellow parents, the short arterial ride to the high school went without any fanfare, resulting in Hizashi gently shaking his daughter awake.

“Chell, sweety, we’re here.”

“Huh?” she bleary hummed, blinking as she looked around to get her bearings. “We’re at U.A.?”

“That’s right,” Hizashi chuckled, “you slept the whole way. Guess you really needed that extra sleep.”

Chell made a noncommittal groan, stretching her arms in the air as she stood, following after Hizashi as they disembarked onto the U.A. station. The short walk up the hill was filled with a comfortable silence, the father and daughter taking in the cool morning air, with Hizashi waving at a few of his colleagues who had also just arrived. The silence lasted until Hizashi and Chell stood at the entrance to the main U.A. building, Hizashi turning to face his daughter, performing a few last minute straightenings of her uniform.

“I’m so proud of you,” Hizashi said, resting his hands on Chell’s shoulders. “You’ve put in so much effort to get here, not only with your studies and learning the language but also with discovering who you are as a person, and well…”

Hizashi trailed off, struggling to find the right words for what he wanted to convey, before deciding that simple was better, looking down at his daughter with a smile. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m proud to call you my daughter.”

Tears welled in Chell’s eyes and her lower lipped trembled, but these were quickly hidden as Chell embraced Hizashi, resting the side of her face against his shoulder.

“I wish I met you sooner, Papai .”

Hizashi hugged her back, simply existing in the moment.

“Me too, Filha . Me too.”

-]l[-

There was a kid in Chell’s class back at Somei Private Academy, Shison Koshi, whose mother, Ms Shison, was a mathematics teacher there. Every day, no matter how early Chell got to class (not that that was often), Shison was always there first, sitting in his seat long before anyone else made it to class.

‘I wonder if this is what he felt,’ Chell idly thought to herself as she scrolled on her phone, not really reading about the various incidents that local heroes had saved, or which celebrity was cheating on their partner, or who was likely to win the elections. ‘And I’ve got three years of this ahead of me. Yay.’

Chell was pulled out of her doom scrolling when the sliding doors to her class, Class 1-A, opened. She glanced up, spotting someone who could only be her classmate. He had spiky ash blond hair, with choppy bangs hanging over eyebrows that sat above his red eyes. The way he wore his uniform was, for lack of a better word, sloppy. The red tie was missing from around his collar, the top three buttons of his collared shirt were undone, and his pants were baggy, sagging at the ankles. The delinquent-wannabe locked eyes with Chell, seemingly trying to size her up, but she maintained the gaze, not looking away and having no desire to show any form of weakness.

“Sup,” the ash blond grunted, taking a seat in the second row of the class.

“Yo,” Chell replied, going back to her phone. Her distraction was short lived, however, as the sound of a chair scraping backwards and the stomping of footsteps caused her to look up, seeing her classmate looming over her as he stood next to her desk.

“You Yamada Chell?” he demanded, his chin jutting out.

“So what if I am?” Chell replied back, her head leaning back as she scrutinised his appearance. “Did I kick your friend’s ass last year or something? That’s usually why guys I don’t know wanna know my name.”

“Not that I’m aware of,” the ash blond admitted. “But if you are Yamada, you were the one who took first place from me.”

Chell thought back to the Entrance Exam results, specifically the list of the top ten students; if memory serves her correctly, second place was taken by Bakugo Katsuki, who was forty-two points behind her.

“And why’d you think I’m who you think I am?” Chell challenged.

“Simple, your voice,” Bakugo explained. “You’ve got the same voice as Present Mic’s daughter at the auditorium. Present Mic’s family name is Yamada, so since the name and the voice match up, I reckon you must be her.”

‘Well damn,’ Chell thought to herself, blinking in surprise. ‘That’s some impressive deduction.’

“Yeah, Present Mic’s my dad, so what?” she challenged.

“I just want to set the record straight,” Katsuki declared. “You might’ve beaten me in the Entrance Exam, but I plan to be top of the class. I’m gonna be the next All Might, so I have to be the best.”

“Well, good luck with that,” Chell shrugged, going back to her phone.

“You mocking me?!” the ash blond roared, slamming his hands on her desk.

“I’m not, actually,” Chell retorted, glaring up at him. “You want to be the next All Might? Go right ahead, I won’t stop you. It’s not like I’m trying to be some Symbol of Peace or that kinda crap. I don’t even know what kinda hero I wanna be, just that I’m gonna be a hero like my dad, my uncle, and my aunt. And that’s what this place is for, right? To teach kids like us how to be heroes?”

Bakugo was silent at her reasoning before lightly scoffing to the side, but rather than it seeming mocking, Chell reckoned it was his reluctant way of agreeing with her.

“Tch, whatever,” he huffed, stalking back to his seat. “You only did better than me because of those damn rescue points. But credit where credit’s due, you’re strong; maybe even strong enough to challenge me. Makes sense, I guess. After all, you’re an Outlander.”

He glared back at her with one eye, his eyes narrowed in challenge. “Heard last year that Present Mic picked up some Outlander brat. Guess that’s where you’re from.”

“Oh, the media got it wrong,” Chell smiled a sickeningly sweet grin. “I’m not an Outlander; I wouldn’t know the first thing about wilderness survival.”

Her smile quickly fell, a wicked glint in her eyes. “I’m a Wastelander.”

Bakugo tried his best not to react, but Chell was able to notice the minute widening of his eyes at the news.

“Well damn,” was all he had to say, kicking his feet up on his desk as he too pulled out his phone, apparently deciding the conversation was over, something Chell was perfectly fine with. Minutes passed as students began to trickle in to the class, none that Chell recognised, so she wasn’t particularly interested, idly scrolling. That was, however, until a familiar voice called out to her.

“Yamada!” Sato grinned as he walked up to her. “We’re in the same class!” 

“Hey, Sato,” Chell smiled, putting her phone away in her bag. “You excited?”

“Of course! This is everything I’ve dreamed of!”

“Oh, hey Yamada, hey Sato!” an excited voice called out, causing Chell to look over to the seemingly floating set of clothing, watching Hagakure walk over to them. “Man, I’m really glad to have people I know in my class.”

“So today’s orientation, right?” Sato rhetorically asked, looking at a schedule that they had all been provided a week earlier. “What do you think they’ll show us?”

“Probably a tour of the main campus, where to find things, that sorta stuff,” Chell guessed. “I mean, I already know my way around the school pretty well, but there’s probably some areas I haven’t been to.”

“Oh, that’s right!” Hagakure excitedly said. “Since your dad is a teacher here, you must know a bunch of cool places!”

“I know a few,” Chell admitted. “There’s the training grounds, the different gyms, the swimming pools-”

Whatever Chell was going to add was cut off as a loud, familiarly obnoxious voice entered the room.

“Attention, everyone! Class will be beginning shortly, so we must make a good first impression of ourselves!”

Striding in like he was already the class president, his uniform spotlessly worn, glasses perfectly placed on his nose, textbooks carried underneath his arms with more certainly stashed away in his bag, was Ida Tenya. Chell and Ida’s eyes instantly locked, the two realising that they would be sharing not only the same school, but also the same class, for the next three years.

If Chell had to be entirely honest, there was only one word that could accurately describe the situation.

“Shit.”

-]l[-

Today of all days, Izuku should be feeling like he was on top of the world. Today was the first day of the U.A. year, and he’d made it; he was one of the thirty-two students who passed the Entrance Exam for the Hero Course. That impossible dream he’d had all his life was suddenly much less of a dream, and now more of a goal; to become the next No. 1 Pro Hero in Japan, the next All Might. He knew the competition would be tough, especially with a quirk he couldn’t properly control, not to mention Kacchan gunning for the same spot, but that just meant he had to work hard to try and achieve it. Getting into U.A. was always gonna be the hardest part, after all. Now if only he hadn’t been running late.

“1-A, 1-A,” he muttered to himself as he ran down the hallway. “This place is huge.”

Looking ahead, Izuku found the door he wanted right before an intersection in the hallways, coming to a stop in front of the gargantuan door, easily four times his height.

“What a giant door,” he marvelled. “Guess it has to be accessible to everyone, even those with gigantification quirks.”

But the thought of one of his classmates having a gigantification quirk caused his mind to spiral, imagining who else could be in his class. And thanks to his nervousness, he could only think about the worst case scenario; Kacchan and the scary guy from the auditorium both being in his class.

‘I hope they’re in Class 1-B,’ Izuku prayed as he opened the door.

The universe didn’t see it fit to grant him such luck.

“Remove your foot from that desk! Such an action is insulting to those who came to U.A. before us as well as the craftsmen who made the desk!”

The moment Izuku stepped through the doorway, he was immediately bombarded with an argument in full swing, and thanks to his luck, it was between the two people he wanted to avoid the most.

“Like I care,” Kacchan scoffed, his offending right foot firmly remaining planted on the desk. “What middle school are you from, extra?”

“I-I’m from Somei Private Academy. My name is Ida Tenya,” Ida introduced, finally revealing his name to Izuku. Now that Izuku saw him in the light and close up, rather than further down the auditorium and in the dim lighting, Izuku was now able to make out his features much more clearly. His hair was dark blue, not black, and he stood a bit over ten centimetres taller than Izuku. If there was one word to describe him, Izuku would choose the word ‘studious’, given his rectangular glasses and perfect uniform.

‘His dad must have taught him how to do his tie,’ Izuku idly thought, glancing between Ida’s perfectly done neck trap and his own shorter attempt. ‘Must be nice.’

“Somei?!” Kacchan grinned, smelling the metaphorical blood in the water of a private school student before him. “A stuck-up elitist then? I should blow you to bits.”

“If only it were that easy,” a voice called out, adding herself into the argument. Izuku, Kacchan and Ida’s eyes all focused to the source of the voice, with Izuku immediately recognising the dark-skinned girl as the one who had saved him at Testing Grounds Beta, as well as one of the two girls who had spoken up for him to the teachers. While she did wear her uniform perfectly and wasn’t doing anything wrong, her lax posture, challenging tone and dark skin only reminded Izuku of the delinquent girls at his middle school.

“Ida and I’ve scrapped plenty of times, so I know how persistent he is,” she continued. “Shame he only shares his brother’s endurance rather than his people skills.”

“Man, Yamada, you really don’t like him,” a tall boy with thick lips who stood next to her nervously laughed, glancing between the two.

“You’re like a manga character!” a floating set of clothes, a girl given her uniform and voice, cheered. “The first day hasn’t even started and you’ve already got a rival!”

“I personally would prefer someone with basic levels of decorum as a rival,” Ida politically stated, though the implication apparently wasn’t lost on Yamada.

“Fuck off, Ida,” the tanned girl swore, flipping Izuku’s spectacled classmate off. “You don’t have to be obscure about it, I’m not happy that we’re in the same class for the next three years either. I’m just glad U.A. isn’t a boarding school.”

“Wouldn’t that be a nightmare,” Izuku thought, only to realise with people turning to look at him that he’d blurted it out.

While Kacchan quietly growled “Deku” and Ida narrowed his eyes in suspicion, the most shocking reaction was from the supposed delinquent, who stood up from her chair, walking away from her friend group up towards Izuku, a small smile on her face.

“Midoriya, right?” she asked, getting a dumb nod from the shocked teen in response. She stuck out her hand in a western greeting, one that Izuku robotically shook, hoping she didn’t notice how sweaty his palms were from nervousness.

“I’m glad to see you made it. I saw the scoreboard; you deserved those full marks from the judges. You deserve to be here, more than Ida,” she muttered, glancing over her shoulder at the shocked teen, before looking back with a resigned expression, “and more than me.”

“No, I should be thanking you!” Izuku protested. “You asked the staff, even your father, if you could give some of your points to me! You and-”

“Ah! That curly hair!” a voice called out from behind him, as if summoned. “The plain-looking boy!” 

Izuku jolted, glancing behind him, seeing the second girl who had vouched for him, the one who had been trapped under rubble and prompted Izuku to leap in to save her.

‘It’s that nice girl!’ he exclaimed in his mind.

‘She was so nice to us before, maybe she could be our friend,’ a wholesome part of his mind thought.

‘And she’s so cute in that uniform,’ a more hormonal part added, though it was quickly beaten down.

“You got in! Just like Present Mic said!” she exclaimed with a bubbly attitude. “Makes sense though! That punch was awesome! You leapt at the robot and was all like, ‘Smash! Smash!’”

“No, I mean, I have to thank you for speaking on my behalf as well.”

“As well?” the brown-haired girl asked aloud before her eyes widened as she looked at Yamada who had simply stood there, watching. “Oh, you’re the girl who got me out! Thanks a bunch! You’re really strong, you know?!”

“Oh, well, it was the right thing to do,” Yamada deflected, but Izuku couldn’t help but think she seemed sad when she said so. The brown-haired girl, however, didn’t seem to notice such a thing.

“So we’ve got our entrance ceremony and guidance sessions today, yeah?” she continued, her words coming out as fast as they could. “Wonder what our teacher’ll be like? Boy, I’m nervous.”

“If you’re here to socialise, then get out.”

The stern yet tired voice that came from the corridor not only cut through the conversation between Izuku and the two nice girls, but also silenced the chatter within the entire class, everyone’s attention focusing on the door. Laying there sideways was a yellow sleeping bag, inside of which lay a dishevelled looking man, with long, messy black hair and an unshaven face.

“This is the hero course,” he continued, pulling a juice pack from within the depths of his synthetic cocoon, sucking it all down in one go. His drink finished, the man stood up, the sleeping bag unzipping as he did. He wore a large scarf around his neck, baggy black clothing, and a simple utility belt. To be entirely honest, Izuku thought he wouldn’t look out of place sleeping on a park bench.

“It took eight seconds for you to quiet down,” the man scolded, walking to the front of the class. “Time is a precious resource. You lot aren’t very rational, are you?”

‘Is he our teacher?’ Izuku thought to himself. ‘If he’s here, he must be a Pro Hero too, right? But he doesn’t look familiar. Is this haggard-looking guy-’

“I’m your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shota. Pleased to meet you,” the teacher blandly introduced, sounding anything but pleased.

‘-our homeroom teacher?!’

The dishevelled teacher reached behind the teaching podium before depositing a set of plastic bags, each of them filled with blue clothing. 

“Here are your U.A. gym clothes,” the man explained. “Quickly now. Grab your pair and get changed, then head out to the grounds. There are signs showing the way.”

“Let me reiterate,” the man stressed as people began to walk forward, fixing a glare at everyone in the room. “You will grab YOUR gym clothes, NOT the pair on the top. Some of them have specifications to either the material or the design. Consider this your first test; grab the one at the top and call out the person’s name, then hand it to them. Failure to do this simple task will result in severe punishments.”

The class collectively gulped in fear, no one daring to move as their teacher walked through the door.

“Get moving,” he instructed over his shoulder. “You all had better be down there in five minutes, or else.”

Whatever the threat would be, no one wanted to know, prompting the class to create an orderly impromptu system for handing out the uniforms.

‘I thought we were meant to be attending the Entrance Ceremony,’ Izuku thought as he ran through the corridors, his gym uniform held to his chest. ‘Just what’s going on?!’

Stuff it, that’ll do for now. I was thinking about including the Quirk Assessment test, but I was looking at my last version of it on a different story and that segment was 7k words, so I’ll split the chapter.

On another note, Chell’s gonna freak out when she realises who the mother of one of her classmates is…

So, thought I’d make a clear distinction in case people haven’t picked up on it yet. Outlanders are people, tribes, or even whole pseudonations that live out in the Outlands, i.e. the areas that weren’t bombed by the Combine forces. They often trade with local cities, usually trading grain and food for electronics, generators, fuel and other such. The technological level varies from tribe to tribe; some are post-apocalypse level, while others have gone full tribal. Wastelanders are a whole different species; they live amongst the ruins of the past, in the cities that were too small for the Combine to spare. Since nothing grows there, Wastelanders have to scavenge, steal and kill to survive. Chell was an urban orphan, so her claiming to be an Outlander and yet have zero survival skills in the Outdoors wouldn’t make sense, so Nezu came up with a story with Hizashi and Chell that Chell is an orphaned scavenger, probably originally from an Outlander tribe, but had to become a Wastelander due to her people abandoning her or being wiped out, Chell doesn’t know. Since Chell is very skilled at urban survival, that allows the story to make a lot more sense. Just thought I’d clear the air.

Also, Izuku was placed 9th in the U.A. Entrance Exam since Chell came first and Rikido got enough points to be within the top ten, bumping Izuku down two places.

Okay, enough blabbing, review time.

TheGigaGamer75: Oh yeah, Bakugo created a few new slurs and swears when he realised he came second, and that there was a hidden point system. As for your suggestion, all I’ll say is that great minds think alike, hehehe…as for your question about Chell’s quirk, that’s my bad, Chell will not need moon rocks to stabilise the portal connection. I should have said that, at the moment, Chell can simply place them on solid surfaces without altering anything about them. Later on though, that’s up in the air. No one is going to be nerfed, it’s up from here!

Atromitos1526: Ah, cheers for the clarification. I reckon Chell might even take it a step further, being part of a rival camp to Shoto’s “Midoriya is All Might’s child”, instead having the view of “All Might is Izuku’s grandfather through knocking up an American girl when he was overseas.” Meanwhile, Izuku is quietly sobbing in the corner as his and All Might’s reputation takes hit after hit. As for who got the boot, well originally that would’ve been seen this chapter, but since it got cut in half, you’ll see next chapter at the sprints. Everyone’s going to be called up in their class order, so you’ll see who got snapped. And yeah, my boi Rikido DESPERATELY needed some love, other than him being a baker and candy apple maker for Eri (not that she doesn’t deserve them, especially in this series as you’ll see later on, we stan our queen), so giving him literally anything was an improvement. As for martial arts, I do plan to have some classes before the U.S.J. arc, simply to show that this is the first week so they’ll be getting a taste of the different classes they’ll be having. After all, Battle classes and rescue classes aren’t the only things heroes do…

grindy_rust_rustbucket (Guest): Chell sees Ida: “Shit.” Ida sees Chell: “Shit.” Hizashi and Ingenium sees the class roster: “Shit.” Nezu, cackling in his office.

ultima-owner: Yep, Hagakure’s nudity has become a kink of its own. If she takes stuff off, she’s in kink town. If someone walked in on her changing, she’d freak out like a normal person, even though nothing is visible (for most people, but I’ll leave that dangling detail here for now…)

StarWanderer's Writing: Interesting thing about Chell calling Shota’s bluff, I don’t think he was lying; the lie was the lie, if that makes sense. Had Izuku not pulled finger (ha, get it?) then Shota would have booted him out of the hero course for sure (I doubt even U.A. can expel someone on those grounds alone when the General Studies course is right there). I think Chell would actually believe it to be true the most, since she would have heard of Shota expelling his class on the first day, only to re-enrol them. Also, Chell didn’t care about Izuku getting into the Hero Course, but getting into U.A., even if it was General Studies. She recognises that he has a more heroic spirit than her, but she’s not going to sacrifice her chance to be a hero simply to make him a hero; she’s simply giving him the chance. And yeah, while Chell and Katsuki haven’t gone at it yet, that’s the key word; yet.

*Sees idea* “Write that down, write that down!”

So yeah, great idea, and I’ve actually created that idea as a file, names and everything. Should be some good antagonists for an internship arc with someone, though who I’m not sure, probably Eli or Chell since they’re Valve characters (kind of for Eli, since his parents were).

grindy_rust_rustbucket (Guest) (again): Lol, mobile terrorist attack had me laughing. Yeah, in my mind, Katsuki was completely pissed when he realised that he came second, however since Chell was an unknown to him, he held off judgement for the most part. Add in that he suspected that he lost to the daughter of a Pro as well as an Outlander (or that’s what the public thinks) then he views it less of an insult and more of a challenge, someone to beat. And yeah, they’d absolutely tag team Ida when it comes to insults.

mariic: As I mentioned above, Chell’s well aware that her uncle can and will expel his students, even his entire class if he has to. In fact, she might be the only one to realise that him saying that it was all a calculated deception was the deception itself…

Also that would make my day, I’d love to have a recommendation for my series on TvTropes, that’s how a fanfic author knows they’ve made it.

123 (Guest): Yep, and that was my reasoning for making Chell a selective mute (spite) rather than a permanent mute (birth defect) like Mr Freeman. That and I can’t be arsed to make a series where one of the main characters is mute, that would be difficult.

Okay, so that’s all the reviews. As always, next chapter is called, “ A Quirk Assessment Test?! ” Yeah, you know what’s coming…

See you next time…

- Jevm

Chapter Text

Having changed into their new P.E. uniforms as quickly as possible, Class 1-A found themselves gathered on a sports ground, all of them surprised by why they had been gathered there.

“A test of our quirks?” the class seemingly asked as one, taken aback by their teacher’s answer. 

“What about the Entrance Ceremony?!” the nice girl with the brown bob cut asked. “Or guidance sessions?!”

“No time to waste on that stuff if you want to be Pros,” Mr Aizawa dismissed. “U.A. is known for its ‘freestyle’ education system. That applies to us teachers as well.”

“Softball throwing. The standing long jump. The 50-metre dash. Endurance running. Grip strength. Side-to-side stepping. Upper body training. Seated toe touch,” he listed off. “You all did these in middle school, yes? Your standard no-quirks-allowed gym tests.”

Everyone nodded, though Izuku was surprised when Mr Aizawa seemed to scoff at this.

“This country still insists on prohibiting quirks when calculating the averages of those records. It’s not rational,” he sneered. “Officially, the Department of Education is just procrastinating. In reality, the Hero Public Safety Commission has their fingers in too many pies and are obsessed with their oh so precious quirk restriction laws, as if they aren’t a detriment in today's society.”

That statement really surprised Izuku. He was aware of the tension between U.A. and the HPSC, but he didn’t realise it was to such a degree.

“Bakugo,” Mr Aizawa called out, drawing attention to the ash blond. “How far could you throw a softball in middle school?”

“Sixty-seven metres,” Kacchan instantly replied.

“Impressive. Now try it with your quirk,” Mr Aizawa instructed, pulling out a softball from his pocket and gently tossing it to Kacchan, nodding his head towards a circle chalked into the ground. “Do whatever you need to, just don’t leave the circle. Make sure to give it all you’ve got.”

“Awesome,” Kacchan grinned, winding his arm back. “I’ll add a bit of boom to this pitch.”

“DIE!” he roared, a deafening explosion emanating from his hands, causing the softball to go rocketing into the air. After a moments silence as the class stood in awe of the violent display of athleticism, the softball finally fell to the ground, rolling to a stop. As it became stationary, Izuku noticed the electronics implanted into the ball, and when Mr Aizawa’s phone gave a small chime, realised that the ball was connected to some app on his phone.

“It’s important for us to know our limits. That’s the first rational step to figuring out what kind of heroes you’ll be,” Mr Aizawa explained, holding out his phone for all to see that Kacchan’s throw was recorded as 705.2 metres.

“Woah, 705 metres? Seriously?” someone exclaimed.

“Here at U.A., we do things differently,” their teacher stated. “U.A.’s grounds are considered private property. You’ve gone your entire lives being told by the government that you’re only allowed to use your quirk if you have a quirk licence. Not here. At U.A., we expect you to use your quirks in everything you do, no matter the course you’re in. If you have a strength enhancing quirk, use it to help carry heavy loads. If you have a speed quirk, use it to make it to class on time. The only limit is that you aren’t allowed to use your quirks to hurt other people or damage U.A. property, unless that’s the aim of the activity, so be careful and be aware of your surroundings. These tests are to try and break those engrained habits of yours.”

“So we can use our quirks for real?!” an excited girl with bubblegum pink skin exclaimed, beaming at a male student with spiky red hair next to her. “Man, U.A. is great!”

Her enthusiasm was joined by many others in the class, some of them trying to figure out how they could use their quirks while at U.A. This enthusiasm, however, was not shared by Izuku.

‘Hold on, this is bad,’ he worried in his mind. ‘I didn’t know these eight events were going to happen.’

However, before the general excitement of the class got too out of hand, it was silenced by their teacher.

“Awesome, you say?” he asked. “You’re hoping to become heroes after three years here, and you think it’ll all be fun and games? That getting to use your quirks is a right, rather than a privilege?”

He looked up through his messy hair, and the bags underneath his eyes only seemed to heighten the glare he fixed towards the class.

“Right. The one with the lowest score across all eight events will be judged hopeless, and will be expelled to General Studies.”

He pulled his bangs back with one hand, grinning mockingly towards his students. “Welcome to the Hero Course at U.A. High! Your fates are in our hands.”

“WHAT?!” the class exclaimed in shock.

“The lowest scorer will be expelled?” the brown-haired exclaimed. “It’s only the first day! I mean, even if it weren’t, that’s totally unfair!”

Her protest was quickly silenced when Mr Aizawa’s baleful gaze fell on her.

“It’s not fair?” he parroted. “Natural disasters, highway crashes, rampaging villains; calamity is always right around the corner. I’d say Japan is full of unfair things. Heroes are the ones who correct all that unfairness. If you’re hoping to spend your evenings hanging out at fast food places, I’m sorry to tell you that for the next three years, U.A. will run you through the wringer.

“Unfortunately, even with the loose restrictions that we U.A. teachers have on what we can and can’t do, expelling someone immediately and permanently from this school is strictly out of my hands,” Mr Aizawa explained, but from the grin on his face it wasn’t good news. “That being said, I’m more than able to expel students from my class at a moment's notice and ship them off to General Studies, opening up a slot in this class. Only the best of the best are allowed in U.A.’s Hero, Business, and Support Course. The General Studies course is full of those who didn’t quite make the cut when it came to applying for those classes; most of them were trying to make it into the Hero Course. If you want to stay in my class, to graduate in three years time and be a fully fledged Pro Hero, you have to stay on top. That’s Plus Ultra. Use your strength to overcome it all, and prove to me you deserve to stay in my class. So bring it. Show me what you’ve got; now it’s for real.”

-]l[-

The first event, the 50-metre dash, saw Izuku and his classmates lining up in front of a five lane track with starting blocks at each of them.

“We’ll do these in seating order,” Mr Aizawa explained. “Since you’re broken into four columns with five students in each, we’ll do it that way. When I call out your name, take your place at the starting line and get ready. You’ll run when I say ‘Go’, racing to the end as fast as possible, all the while using your quirk if it suits. If you start too early it will be marked as failure; no retries.”

He glanced around to see if there were any questions, but none were brought forth.

“Very well,” he nodded, glancing down at his phone. “Aoyama, Ashido, Asui, Ida, and Vance. You five are up first.”

‘Vance?’ Izuku wondered, watching as the five who were called out came forward. ‘That’s not a Japanese name. He must be one of the two transfer students in our class.’

It didn’t take long for Izuku to guess who it was. Out of the five racers, it was the fifth who had a Western look, with a Caucasian complexion and appearance, though Izuku wondered if he was a mixed ethnicity due to his darker skintone. His brown hair was slicked back, keeping it out of his face, while a pair of rectangular glasses sat on his face. 

Standing next to him was Ida, who like his neighbour also wore glasses. However, as Ida knelt down to roll up his pant legs, Izuku noticed the exhaust pipes jutting out of the back of his muscular calves, showing he had a mutation quirk.

‘An engine quirk of some kind?’ Izuku thought, mentally kicking himself for not bringing his quirk analysis notebook. Oh well, he’d simply have to remember as many details as possible. He’d just have to not be placed last and he’d be able to note the details down later.

Next down the line was Asui, a girl with long dark green hair, and from her hunched posture, wide mouth, and the fact she looked like she was going to hop rather than run, the first thought Izuku had when he looked at her was that she reminded him of a frog. 

‘Maybe another mutation quirk?’ Izuku wondered. ‘Maybe a quirk that gives her the abilities of a frog?’

Second was Ashido, the pink-skinned girl who had been excited after Kacchan’s softball throw. She had pink, fluffy hair, with small yellow horns sticking out, as well as black sclera with yellow iris. Unfortunately, her appearance didn’t give him any hint as to her abilities.

The first person in the line, Aoyama, was a blond haired male who wore a confident smirk. Unlike the others, however, instead of getting into a runner’s mark, he was facing backwards, revealing a silver belt he wore over his uniform.

“Hehehe,” Aoyama chuckled. “So unimaginative, all of you.”

“On your marks,” Mr Aizawa stated. “Ready? Go!”

Just as he started the timer, Aoyama leapt into the air, tucking his legs beneath him and thrusting forward his pelvis. A blue, sparkly beam of light shot out from his belt that was placed over his stomach, propelling him down the track. Unfortunately, it cut off halfway, causing Aoyama to fall to the ground before quickly getting into another crouch. However, by this point the other racers were passing him. Focusing on Ida, Izuku watched as the exhaust pipes in his calves propelled him forward, racing down the track in long strides, quickly crossing the line before anyone else.

“3.04 seconds,” a robot placed at the finish line declared.

Passing by Aoyama were Ashido and Asui, both of the girls using their quirks to make good time. While Asui did apparently have a frog quirk, leaping down the track, Ashido had some sort of slime quirk, the white liquid secreting from the soles of her shoes allowing her to skate down her lane.

It was at this point that Aoyama regained his footing, another blast of sparkling energy sending him across the finish line, just after Ashido crossed it but just before Asui.

“5.37 seconds, 5.51 seconds, 5.58 seconds,” the robot announced, and just over a second later Vance crossed it, coming fifth in the heat. “6.97 seconds.”

“Next heat,” Mr Aizawa declared as the racers returned to where the class was gathered. “Uraraka, Kaminari, Kirishima, Koda, Sato.”

The first student was the nice girl with the brown hair, finally giving Izuku her name.

‘Uraraka,’ he thought to himself, watching as she seemed to pat her clothing, though Izuku was sure she was using whatever quirk she had to make them weightless, just like she did to catch him before the Entrance Exam Presentation.

The second student, Kaminari, was a thin male with short yellow hair, parted to the right with a black lightning-shaped streak on the left of his side fringe, which was angled, partially obscuring his left eye.

The third student, Kirishima was the red haired male, his hair spiked upwards, though Izuku wasn’t sure if that was natural or not. He had a muscular build, and the smile he gave to Ashido as they slapped their hands together revealed he had sharp, jagged teeth.

The fourth competitor, Koda, was another muscular student, though this time he had a mutation quirk that gave his head a rocky appearance. His posture was very shy, something that Izuku recognised and could empathise with, with his shoulders rounded and his arms held close to his body.

The fifth and final racer, Sato, was the most muscular of the group, his uniform taut over his broad shoulders. His hair was brown and spiky, spiking up behind him, his lips were prominent and thick, set beneath a large, round nose. For the life of him, Izuku was sure he’d seen his face somewhere before, but he couldn’t remember where. He knew that Sato apparently knew Yamada from before U.A., but he felt it was something else.

“On your marks,” Mr Aizawa said, causing the boys and single girl to drop into a ready stance. “Ready?”

“On second,” Sato called out, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a sugar cube, quickly popping it into his mouth before flashing a thumbs up at the teacher as his muscles seemed to expand.

“Ready?” Mr Aizawa repeated, but this time there weren’t any more interruptions. “Go!”

Sato burst forth from his starting block with a roar, his arms pumping as he sprinted down the lanes.

“So manly!” Kirishima yelled with excitement, seeming to gain a second wind, pulling slightly ahead of the rest. However, unlike the previous heat, Sato was the only one to make any obvious use of a quirk, even though Uraraka had likely used hers as well. Because of this, Sato crossed the finish line seconds ahead of everyone else.

“5.44 seconds,” the machine stated, with the rest of the racers crossing soon after, going Kirishima, Kaminari, Uraraka, then Koda. “7.05 seconds, 7.09 seconds, 7.15 seconds, 7.17 seconds.”

“Next, Shoji, Jiro, Tokoyami, Todoroki, Hagakure.”

The next five stepped forth, taking their positions in their starting blocks. The first person in the line, Shoji, had the most distinctive appearance in the class. He had some kind of mutation quirk, one that gave him three arms on each side, with a fleshy membrane connecting each set of three. Because of this, his uniform was modified, being sleeveless, and he wore a blue mask over his elongated face. 

The second competitor, Jiro, was a slim girl with black hair. She also seemed to have a mutation quirk, as her earlobes had earphone jacks growing out of them.

The third, Tokoyami, seemed to have a mutation that gave him the head of a crow while leaving the rest of him normal, even if he was pale and thin.

The fourth competitor for the heat, Todoroki, had hair that was split between white and red, with white on his right side and red on his left. The two features that stood out to Izuku, other than the fact his family name was the same as Endeavor’s, was his heterochromia and the large scar that covered his right eye. His left eye had a grey, almost black iris, while the left was a striking blue, made all the more prominent by the angry red scar tissue around the eye.

The fifth and final member was the invisible girl who was chatting to Yamada who had saved Izuku. Nothing about her was visible, the only indication she was there being the clothes that she wore.

‘I wonder what kind of invisibility quirk she has,’ Izuku thought. ‘Does she bend light around herself, is she completely transparent, or does she only reflect a form of light the human eye can’t see?’

“On your marks,” Mr Aizawa repeated. “Ready? Go!”

Shoji, Jiro, Tokoyami and Hagakure all dashed forwards, relying on their physical abilities with no quirks being visibly used, much to Izuku’s frustration. How could he note down details about their awesome quirks without seeing them? If anything, Shoji’s quirk seemed to be a detriment, due to the large surface are that his arms produced creating drag, resulting in him falling behind despite his larger strides.

Todoroki, on the other hand, was perfectly fine with displaying his quirk. The moment he burst forth from his starting block, ice formed underneath his feet, allowing him to skate along his lane, propelled forth by his other foot and pushed on the ground, like he was riding a skateboard.

“4.5 seconds,” the machine chimed as Todoroki sailed past. 

“7.06 seconds, 7.32 seconds, 7.33 seconds, 7.85 seconds,” the machine continued as Tokoyami, Jiro, Hagakure, and Shoji passed by.

“And the final heat for the 50-metre dash,” Mr Aizawa stated, “Bakugo, Midoriya, Mineta, Yamada, and Yaoyorozu.”

At last, it was Izuku’s turn. To say he was nervous was a severe understatement, made worse by the fact that Kacchan was going to be in the same heat as him. To make matters worse, Kacchan had been giving him a massive stink eye ever since he saw that they were in the same class together, so Izuku was certain he wasn’t going to be in a good mood.

Looking at the other competitors, the third student who stood next to Izuku, Mineta, was a small male student, standing only slightly above his waist. His quirk seemed to cause his hair to form into round, purple clusters, but what their purpose was Izuku couldn’t yet tell.

Yamada stood next to Mineta, noticeably not stretching as most other students did, nor did she even bother to get into a runners start, instead casually holding her arms out, one pointed at the finish line while the other pointed at the ground in front of her.

‘If only I could remember what her quirk was,’ Izuku sighed. ‘I know she used it to save me, but I can’t remember much more than that. I was too focused on the pain of using One For All for the first time. The entire test was honestly a blur.’

The fifth and final student, Yaoyorozu, was a tall girl with long, black hair. While she certainly had a very attractive appearance, the reason Izuku did a double take was because he saw her pulling a pogo stick out of her stomach.

‘What kind of quirk allows her to do that?’ Izuku wondered.

“On your marks,” Mr Aizawa droned, clearly eager to finish this particular test. “Ready? Go.”

Izuku burst into a sprint, hoping to get a good placement purely from the training he had done with All Might. While he was certainly pulling ahead of Mineta, purely because he was taller and likely fitter than him, Kacchan and Yaoyorozu proved to have effective control over their quirks, with Yaoyorozu keeping ahead with her pogo stick and Kacchan bursting forth with literal explosive speed.

None of them, however, nor even any in the class for that matter, were able to hold a candle to Yamada. 

“1.44 seconds,” the timer machine droned as Yamada seemed to leap out of the ground and across the finish line in just over a second. Looking closely, Izuku was able to see an orange ring shrinking into nothingness, and in the brief moment it was there Izuku swore he could see the sky through the ground.

‘That’s what her quirk was!’ Izuku remembered, now solidly in fourth place. ‘She’s able to create portals! That’s a really rare one!’

“4.13 seconds, 4.58 seconds,” the machine announced as Kacchan and Yaoyorozu crossed the finish line, before continuing as Izuku crossed the line himself, with Mineta trailing behind. “7.02 seconds. 8.73 seconds.”

‘Better than middle school, but not by much,’ Izuku thought to himself as he rested his hands on his knees, panting as he caught his breath. ‘Definitely not as much of a difference as Kacchan’s had. His record was around five and a half seconds last year, but this year he did it in just over four seconds.’

“Alright, everyone, we’ll do your next event in the gymnasium,” Mr Aizawa said, leading the class towards the nearby building.

‘Seven more events,’ Izuku worried to himself as he walked. ‘So many people used their quirks in that event alone and produced some incredible records. But if I use mine even once, that power will wreck my body.’

‘I need to regulate my power,’ Izuku thought to himself as Mr Aizawa explained that the next test would be grip strength. ‘I need to have an image in my mind, just like All Might told me; imagine the egg in the microwave. Don’t let the egg explode.’

A shiver of fear and uncertainty went down Izuku’s spine as the grip testers were handed out.

‘I can’t come last,’ Izuku thought. ‘Not after everything I’ve been through; not after everything All Might sacrificed for me.’

-]l[-

Unfortunately, desire and reality are two separate things. Even though Izuku imagined the egg in the microwave, holding on to the desire to not let the egg, his body, explode, the fear and trauma from his first time using his quirk still had its claws in his soul.

“Tch,” Izuku scoffed at himself, looking down at his reading of 56 kg. It was better than his score of 40 kg last year, but nowhere close to being good enough.

‘Yet another test I failed to use my quirk in,’ Izuku lamented, looking around the gymnasium as some of his classmates produced incredible results. Shoji showed he was able to turn the ends of his secondary and tertiary arms into hands, all three pulling on the scale, giving him a score of 540 kg.

“Holy moly, Yamada!” an excited screech drew everyone’s attention to where Yamada, Hagakure and Sato were standing. Wandering over, Izuku saw Sato, his muscles once again ballooned larger from what Izuku could only assume was a sweets activated quirk, achieving a score of 618 kg. However, while this was impressive, what had truly caught everyone’s attention was Yamada’s score, a whopping 521 kg; even though Izuku didn’t think she had a strength enhancing quirk, she was only 19 kg shy of Shoji’s score, and he was using three hands.

Just then, Izuku’s attention, as well as that of the entire class, was drawn away from Yamada’s impressive feat by the sound of something snapping and a very embarrassed, “Oops.”

Everyone turned to where Yaoyorozu had produced a clamp, using it to add pressure to the device. However, it seemed she had put it through too much pressure.

“Um, Mr Aizawa?” Yaoyorozu started, hesitantly holding out her broken strength scale to the teacher. “I think I may have broken the machine. Am I in trouble?”

Mr Aizawa simply looked at the shattered device. The handle was split in two, the clamp still hanging on, and wires were poking out of its innards.

He stood there, simply blinking at the device, before sighing, noting something down on his phone.

“Don’t worry, Yaoyorozu,” he reassured in a tired voice, “we can replace them easily. Since I didn’t get a score from your device, we’ll just put it down as the top score, alright?”

“Yes sir,” Yaoyorozu nodded, oblivious to the wide eyed expression everyone was giving her, Izuku first amongst them.

‘Just what is the limit of what she can create?’ he wondered.

The next two indoors events weren’t any easier for Izuku. They had been told to partner up, and for once in the test luck shone down on him when Uraraka had approached him asking if he wanted to partner up with her. She approached him! Unfortunately, the universe seemed to think that was all the luck Izuku was getting, judging by the fact that for the next two tests, Seated Toe Touch and Upper Body Fitness, Izuku wasn’t able to think of a way he’d be able to use One For All to make an impressive showing. And that was assuming he’d be able to safely manifest it in the first place. 

While All Might’s ten months of training had left Izuku above average in terms of fitness for someone his age, none of the results he was able to produce were comparable to his classmates, especially the girls in the class for the Seated Toe Touch.

All of them, bar none, were able to easily reach the bar at their feet. Yamada had even gone a step further, creating a portal next to her and a portal by her feet, dropping them through the second portal to grab her ankles as they stuck up out of the first. While impressive, it was strangely horrifying. 

Interestingly, for the Upper Body Fitness test, which amounted to doing as many sit ups as you can in a minute, no single person seemed to excel. It was in these tests that Izuku managed to place decently high, though he had a sinking suspicion that Mr Aizawa would be critical of his performance either way.

The fifth test saw them led back outside where they stood in front of a sand pit, and told that the test would be a running long jump. This was done one by one, and Izuku’s nerves were already shattered as Aoyama, the first to make his attempt, cleared the sandpit with the help of his quirk. Asui likewise cleared the entire length of the sandpit, as did Ida, Todoroki, Kacchan, Yamada and Yaoyorozu, all showing incredible uses of their quirks, while many others like Uraraka, Sato, Shoji and Tokoyami all made impressive results, even though they landed in the sand. Izuku shouldn’t have felt too bad for only reaching about halfway down the sand pit, as did many others, but he had started to notice Mr Aizawa focusing his attention on some students more than others; Izuku was fairly certain he was having a hole burned through his by his teacher’s glare alone.

The sixth test, side-to-side stepping, had a few standout results. While Asui had used her frog-like legs to jump side-to-side as quickly as possible and Todoroki had created a patch of ice to slide side-to-side, there were really only two standouts to Izuku. First was Mineta, whose turn came after Izuku’s. Throughout all of the previous tests, Mineta had probably performed the worst out of everyone, thanks to his incredibly small stature and apparent lack of muscles. However, as he came up to take his turn, he reached up to his head, pulling off the purple balls that grew on his head, placing them into small piles on either side of him. Starting his test, he leapt to the side, impacting against the balls, before being launched to the other side and bouncing off the second pile. This caused him to ping-pong back and forth, gaining speed until he was little more than a blur, easily taking the lead in this particular test. 

Following him was Yamada. Similarly to Mineta, she decided to use her quirk as well, though her method was unique. Standing in the middle of the line, she created two portals in front and behind her, standing on the tiny sliver of ground in between them.

“Start,” Mr Aizawa said, starting his stopwatch, and Izuku’s eyes widened as Chell pitched forward, falling through the portal in front of her. Just as she did, she appeared through the portal that was behind her, and the momentum carried her up and over, back into the first portal. This loop repeated itself again and again, with Izuku growing dizzy just from watching her.

“And time,” Mr Aizawa called out, but Chell hadn’t stopped. “Yamada, that’s enough. Yamada!”

His voice seemed to cut through to her as her portals blinked out of existence, causing Chell to fall heavily to her knees, one hand supporting her while the other was clamped over her mouth. Mr Aizawa quickly rushed over to her, crouching down and rubbing circles on her back, quietly asking her something that she responded with a small nod.

“Well, as impressive as that was, Yamada, the machine didn’t record it as side steps,” Mr Aizawa apologetically said. “You do get some credit for creative use of your quirk though.”

“Fuck,” Yamada grogilly swore, woozily getting to her feet and staggering over to the class, one hand remaining clamped to her mouth while the other held onto her stomach.

“Boy do I know that look,” Izuku heard Uraraka mutter to herself as Yaoyorozu went up to do her attempt as Yamada was comforted by her two friends. “Poor Yamada.”

“ Oiu ,” Aoyama agreed, speaking with a foreign accent. “I know the pain of an upset tummy all too well, thanks to my magnifique quirk.”

After Yaoyorozu’s unusually average attempt, the class was led back to where everything had begun; the softball circle.

“Okay, you all should remember the rules for this one,” Mr Aizawa tiredly explained. “The same with the side-to-side steps, you’ll come up one by one. Bakugo, you don’t need to bother, you’ve already done yours.”

Kacchan’s only response to that was a grunt, something Izuku expected as he watched his classmates go up one by one. The first four competitors, Aoyama, Ashido, Asui and Ida, all made their best attempts, but none of them had quirks that suited this test. However, this all changed when Vance stepped up to the plate. 

Rather than walking over to pick up the softball where it had fallen, he simply held out a hand, and with a slight widening of his fingers, Izuku watched with amazement as the softball shot out towards his open palm.

‘It’s like a more powerful version of Mum’s quirk,’ Izuku thought. ‘I wonder what’s different about his quirk.’

“When you’re ready,” Mr Aizawa instructed, the international student giving a nod in response. He raised his hand skyward, taking a deep breath, clenched his hand into a fist, with the softball rocketing into the air. Even though it wasn’t quite as flashy as Kacchan’s throw, it was still audible, cracks of air sounding out in the distance as the softball broke the sound barrier multiple times.

Izuku, along with a fair few of his classmates, watched with slack jaws as Mr Aizawa continued to stare at his phone, his expression not giving anything away before it chimed, prompting him to turn it to face the class.

9999.9 m.

“Wha-!” Izuku heard Kacchan gasp. “He did, what, fourteen times better than me?!”

“A lot more, actually,” Mr Aizawa admitted. “The machine’s registered that the softball’s stopped, it just can’t display any higher of a result.”

While Izuku was certainly stunned, no one was expecting Vance’s results to be outshone, least of all by Uraraka as she stepped up, being passed a new softball. However, in hindsight, Izuku had forgotten what exactly Uraraka’s quirk was.

With just a light squeeze, Uraraka lightly tossed the ball into the air. However, despite what facts, science, and logic plainly state, the softball didn’t slow down and fall back to the ground, but instead continued upwards into the sky at a leisurely rate until it couldn’t be seen.

“Whoops,” Uraraka chuckled, one hand on her hip while the other shielded her eyes from the Sun, looking up at where the softball had disappeared into the cloudless sky.

The class continued to stare in amazement before looking towards Mr Aizawa, who displayed a rare show of disbelief. He quickly schooled his emotions, however, before showing the latest results; an infinity symbol.

“Seriously?!” more than a few people exclaimed in shock.

‘They actually had infinity as a potential result?’ Izuku idly wondered.

“Okay, well, moving on,” Mr Aizawa muttered, pulling out yet another softball and tossing it towards Kaminari. “Kaminari, you’re up.”

The next few results weren’t possibly able to match the impossible back-to-back performances, though Izuku did notice Sato and Shoji performing some impressive results with their quirks. And when Todoroki made his attempt using only his natural strength, it was Izuku’s turn. 

-]l[-

“Midoriya isn’t doing well,” Ida noted aloud, something that Chell was forced to agree with. Throughout the entire series of tests that her uncle was putting his class through, the green-haired boy with a hero's heart hadn’t once used the impressive strength that she knew he had.

‘Can he really not control it?’ she wondered as Midoriya walked up to the pitching circle, looking as if he was walking to his execution. ‘At this rate, Uncle Shota’s not gonna have a choice.’

“Well duh,” Bakugo scoffed, his arms crossed with a sneer on his face. “Deku’s a quirkless runt.”

“If he’s quirkless, then I want him to tell me how he has such a mean right hook,” Chell couldn’t help but chuckle.

“The hell’s that supposed to mean?” Bakugo challenged, but before Chell could answer, she saw Midoriya winding up to take his shot. Red light lit up along his right arm, his veins glowing his power, but as he swung his arm, they vanished.

“46 metres,” her uncle declared, and as Chell and her classmates looked at their teacher, she realised she had never seen her uncle as angry as he was now.

“Huh?” Izuku lamely gaped, looking down at his hands in confusion. “But I was trying to use it…”

“I erased your quirk,” Uncle Shota explained, his hair and capture scarf levitating as a side effect of his quirk.

“That ridiculous entrance exam,” he growled, his glare fixed solely on Midoriya. “It’s completely irrational when you consider someone like YOU got in.”

“Erased?!” Midoriya gasped. “Those goggles, of course! You’re the Erasure Hero: Eraser Head! Your quirk nullifies others just by looking at them!”

“Damn, Midoriya,” Chell whistled in amazement. “That’s some impressive niche hero knowledge.”

“I’ve never heard of him before,” Sato admitted.

“Me neither!” Hagakure added. “Hey, Yamada, how’d you know him?”

“He’s an underground Pro Hero, so it makes sense that most people wouldn’t recognise him,” Chell said. “And he was one of the first Pro Heroes I met.”

“He probably arrested you for blatantly using your quirk illegally,” Ida snarked.

“Shut it,” Chell growled, not giving him the satisfaction of glaring at him, and instead focusing on the private conversation her uncle was having with her classmate. She watched Uncle Shota say some quiet words for her classmate’s ears only, having pulled him in close with his capture scarf. The scarf quickly unwound itself, her uncle allowing Midoriya to take his place in the circle, apparently granting him one more try.

‘Come on, Midoriya,’ Chell thought, her hands clenching. ‘You have to get this right, because Uncle’s not bluffing this time.’

She focused on the green-haired boy’s movement, blocking out the chatter of her classmates or the remarks from Ida and Bakugo. And in that heightened moment of focus, when the changes to her brain made the world seem like it moved at a crawl, Chell saw that instead of his entire arm lighting up with energy, it was only his finger.

“SMASH!” he roared, the softball soaring into the air.

“This pain,” she heard Midoriya mutter, noticing the ugly purple colour his right index finger had gained. “It’s nothing like before.”

He glanced up, and though he was obviously in pain, grinned at Chell’s uncle. “Mr Aizawa. I, can still move.”

“This kid,” Uncle Shota grinned, an expression that Chell mirrored when her uncle showed Izuku’s results: 705.3 metres.

“Woo! Now that’s more like it!” Uraraka cheered. “That’s much more of a hero record than your first throw!”

“But his finger seems to be swollen, if not worse,” Ida noticed, adjusting his glasses minutely. “What a strange quirk.”

“Man, Yamada, you seemed really worried there for a second,” Hagakure added, bumping her shoulder against Chell’s. “Good thing he pulled it off.”

But before Chell could respond to her new friend, she was interrupted by the repeated burst of explosions and the growl of an infuriated teenager. 

“What the hell?!” Bakugo roared as he burst towards a terrified Midoriya. “Explain yourself, De-argh!”

His yell was cut off as he fell through the floor, tumbling up and out of the portal that Chell had placed at her feet. Such was his disorientation that he wasn’t able to stop Chell from pinning him to the ground, his palms turned away from her.

“Don’t even think about it,” she growled.

“Get the fuck off me, ya damn Outlander!” Bakugo roared, thrashing underneath her iron grip, but quickly stilled when he realised he couldn’t use his quirk. “Wait, what the?”

“Stop trying to use your quirk already,” Uncle Shota muttered, walking over with his hair and scarf levitating, the capture tool poised and ready to strike. “I’m getting dry eye over here.”

The staredown between teacher and student continued for a moment, the tension in the air heavy, only ending when Bakugo huffed, stopping his thrashing and breaking eye contact with the teacher.

“That’s what I thought,” Uncle Shota said, his hair drooping back down as he pulled out his eyedrops. “Yamada, get off your classmate and take your turn.”

Chell stepped off of Bakugo’s back, not bothering to offer him a hand up, and instead walked down the field to where the softball had fallen before walking back to take her place in the circle.

“Does the softball record the distance it travels or its maximum height?” she asked her uncle, placing the softball on the ground as she stretched her arms.

“Distance travelled,” he answered with a grunt.

“Perfect,” Chell grinned, creating two portals in front of her before picking up the softball. She wound her arm back, taking aim down at the orange portal, before throwing it downwards with all her might, sending it rocketing down through the orange portal and up through the blue. While it managed to gain an impressive height, slightly less than Sato’s, the true extent of Chell’s plan revealed itself to her classmates when the ball fell, and rather than hitting the ground, came up and out of the orange portal, once more shooting up into the air. This cycle continued, each time reaching a shorter height than the last, before the softball ran out of energy, finding an equilibrium suspended in midair within the portals.

“Creative use of your quirk,” Uncle Shota admitted, the praise causing Chell’s grin to widen, even more so when he turned his phone to show her results of 1,207 metres.

“Damn it,” Bakugo growled, his teeth clenched in anger as he glared at her. “Upstaged again by that damn chick.”

“Alright, and finally, Yaoyorozu,” Uncle Shota concluded, with Chell tossing the ball to her classmate as she walked up to make her attempt. As Chell stood next to her friends, smiling as they congratulated her, her eyes quickly widened at what she saw. While Chell had seen Yaoyorozu seemingly pull a variety of items out of her skin, from a pogo stick to a pole vault pole, she certainly didn’t expect the girl almost as tall as she was to pull out a field cannon.

BOOM

Chell’s jaw dropped as the cannon fired, sending the ball soaring into the air.

“Well, good thing she was last,” Chell overheard her uncle mutter to himself, turning his phone to the class to reveal Yaoyorozu’s score of 2,107 metres. “That was the last of the spare softballs.”

-]l[-

Even though Izuku had done well in the Softball Throwing test, the eighth and final test, long distance running, saw Izuku producing a fairly unimpressive result. Normally, he should’ve been in the top half of the class, but the pain in his finger was too bad to make a good showing. And besides, he simply couldn’t compare to Ida who seemed a natural at long distance running, Yamada, who simply teleported around the track, and Yaoyorozu who produced yet another item from her body, this time a motorised scooter. One by one students began to drop out, unable to keep at the pace they had to, until it was only Ida, Yamada and Yaoyorozu left. Yaoyorozu failed first after her scooter ran out of battery and she was forced to continue on foot, though she soon began to flag before stopping. That only left Ida and Yamada, and Izuku got the impression that neither were willing to admit defeat to the other.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Mr Aizawa called out when it had hit midday, ending the test. “If we continue until one of you drops, we’ll be here for the rest of the day. You’ll both take first equal.”

“I suppose that’s acceptable,” Ida admitted, a sentiment Yamada seemed to share.

“Moving along,” Mr Aizawa continued, addressing the class as Ida and Yamada joined the rest. “Your total scores simply reflect your performance in each of the events. Explaining the process would be a waste of time, so all you get are the final rankings.”

‘The lowest score gets expelled, so someone here is getting kicked out of the Hero Course,’ Izuku worried, his eyes squeezed closed as he waited for the final results. ‘My only record worth mentioning was that throw, but I didn’t do well in anything, not when every event had people using their quirks. Especially the endurance running, because the pain was so bad! I’m done for.’

The results flashed up on a hologram, revealing the placements of the class.

1 - Yaoyorozu Momo 

2 - Yamada Chell

3 - Todoroki Shoto 

4 - Bakugo Katsuki 

5 - Ida Tenya 

6 - Vance Eli

7 - Sato Rikido

8 - Tokoyami Fumikage 

9 - Shoji Mezo

10 - Uraraka Ochako 

11 - Ashido Mina

12 - Aoyama Yuga

13 - Asui Tsuyu

14 - Mineta Minoru

15 - Jiro Kyoka

16 - Kirishima Eijiro

17 - Koda Koji

18 - Kaminari Denki 

19 - Hagakure Toru

20 - Midoriya Izuku

Izuku’s heart sank as he saw his name at last place. He had failed, everything All Might did for him was for no-

“Also, I was lying about expelling someone,” Mr Aizawa casually revealed, causing Izuku’s mind to freeze.

“That was a rational deception meant to bring out the best in all of you,” he continued with an amused grin.

Izuku felt like fainting as many of his classmates loudly voiced their surprise and shock at such a twist.

“Well of course it was a lie,” Yaoyorozu dismissed. “Didn’t take much to figure that out.”

“Uncle Shota!” someone called out, with Izuku turning to see Yamada looking at their teacher with a serious expression. “Don’t lie to me. Please.”

Aside from the fact that Izuku was reeling from the revelation that his classmate was apparently the niece of their teacher, which subsequently meant that Present Mic and Eraser Head were brothers of some kind, he was equally shocked to see the remorseful, somewhat regretful expression on their harsh teacher’s face.

“Yeah, fair enough, Chell, given what you’ve been through,” he muttered before focusing on the class. “While my niece was meant to keep our relations secret, so no one made the assumption that there will be any bias in my class, she is right. The deception was the lie.”

Izuku’s mind stuttered as it tried to understand what he meant.

“That is to say, I was fully planning on expelling the lowest ranked person from my class, and sending them off to General Studies,” their teacher explained before his gaze focused on Izuku. 

“Midoriya,” he called out, causing Izuku to flinch. “That wasn’t the case for you. I wasn’t simply going to have you sent to General Studies; I was fully prepared to try and convince Principal Nezu to have you expelled from this school.

“Your quirk is dangerous, not only to yourself, but more importantly to those around you,” he explained. “U.A. High School is a hero academy, and everything we do here is based on that. Sending someone to General Studies is meant to motivate them to be better, to show that despite them being at a disadvantage, they can still overcome the obstacles in front of them. You had no place in a class like that.” 

Izuku hung his head in shame, however Mr Aizawa wasn’t finished.

“That was, however, until you proved that you could do something with that destructive quirk of yours, to impose some semblance of control over it,” he explained, holding up his thumb and index finger so they were barely touching. “This is how close you were, Midoriya, to being expelled from U.A. as a whole. And let this be a lesson to all of you. None of you, not even my own niece, DESERVES your place at U.A. It is a privilege, not a right, and it comes with expectations. Let this brush with the death of your dreams motivate you to be the best you can be.”

Izuku and the rest of the class stood there, absorbing the lesson that their teacher had imparted to them.

“Anway, we’re done here. Your documents about the curriculum and such are back in the classroom. Give them a look,” he said as he walked away, before pausing and pulling a slip of paper out of his pocket. 

“Midoriya,” he called out, holding out the paper to Izuku. “Take this to Recovery Girl in the nurse’s office. She’ll fix you up. Tomorrow’s trials aren’t gonna be any easier.”

-]l[-

Space is vast. This, beyond doubt, is one of the largest understatements in existence. The great nothingness between celestial bodies great and small is thought to comprise 99.999999999% of the known universe. Even within a local star system, the distance between planets and moons is incredibly wide, even if they seem close by.

These facts needed to be stated simply so the sheer improbability of what is about to happen can properly be appreciated.

Wheatley was floating. He had been floating for a long time. Or had it been a short time? To be perfectly honest, he couldn’t really remember at this point. His chronometer was damaged, and he found it difficult to tell how long something took. What was minutes could feel like years, and what was years could feel like minutes. Of course, minutes could also feel like minutes and years like years, but then again, he was never sure how accurate that was.

He had been drifting in space for some amount of time, he knew that much, and he had a rough estimate of how long it had been; somewhere between one and one thousand years, give or take.

In the time that he had, whenever he wasn’t looking at something passing by or being irritated by the Space Core, he thought about how he got here. He regretted what he’d done to that young girl; he’d only wanted to be friends, but when he integrated with the Central AI, all of the power caused him to go mad with power, to betray someone who had only been nice to him. GLaDOS was right, he really was an idiot, the biggest idiot in existence for betraying his only friend.

"Earth. Wanna go to Earth. Wanna go to Earth wanna go to Earth wanna go to Earth wanna go to Earth,” the Space Core repeated as it drifted towards Wheatley. “Wanna go to earth. Wanna go home. Wanna go home wanna go home wanna go home wanna go home. Earth Earth Earth. Don't like space. Don't like space. It's too big. Too big. Wanna go home. Wanna go to Earth."

“Yeah, me too,” Wheatley sighed. “I wish I could take it all back. I honestly do. I honestly do wish I could take it all back. And not just because I’m stranded in space.”

He paused, doing his best to ignore Space Core’s frightened rambling.

“If I was ever to see her again, do you know what I’d say?” he asked no one, knowing that Space Core couldn’t hear him, and he was the only one around for hundreds of thousands of miles. “I’d say, ‘I’m sorry.’ Sincerely. I am sorry. I was bossy and monstrous, and I am genuinely sorry.”

Any other thoughts that Wheatley might have had were cut off as a softball slammed into Space Core’s body, causing the insane Personality Core to slam into Wheatley, sending them both closer towards the Moon’s surface.

“Watch it!” Wheatley yelled, only for his optic to switch targets, focusing on the rapidly approaching surface. “Oh, this is going to hurt.”

All things considered, the landing- 

“Ow!”

-wasn’t all that painful, gentle enough-

“Argh!”

-that neither Wheatley or Space Core were damaged, but it certainly rattled Wheatley’s optic.

“Urgh,” Wheatley groaned, looking around to see that he was now resting on the surface of the Moon, staring up at the slowly rotating Earth above him.

“Not in space not in space not in space!” Space Core cheered. “In space, not in space, in space but on ground in space but on ground in space but on ground.”

“Well, at least you’re happy, mate,” Wheatley sighed, staring up at the green and blue orb that he once called home. “I wonder where she is, down there. Well, I guess she still has to be alive. Hey mate, how long has it been?”

“Wanna go to Earth wanna go to Earth wanna go to Earth wanna look at Earth wanna look at Earth wanna look at Earth,” was all Space Core repeated.

“Yeah, I guess you don’t have the time either,” Wheatley muttered to himself. “What I wouldn’t give to see her again. Or Rick. Or even Jerry, that discriminatory nanobot.”

Wheatley sighed, looking at the Earth and imagining all of the adventures that young human girl could be getting up to. She defeated GLaDOS, so she should be fine.

He hoped she found some better friends than he’d ever been.

“I hope I see her again.”

Okay, and that’s that. I decided to leave off the events that happened on Earth where they were, since nothing really changes. Tenya would still catch up with Izuku, though for different reasons. In canon it was because Tenya acknowledged that Izuku was a more heroic person due to fighting the Zero Pointer, but in this timeline, since Izuku and Tenya were in different testing grounds, Tenya is curious about why Chell holds our favourite greenbean in such high regard.

Okay, other than that, some people might be wondering why the rankings are so different. After all, in canon Mineta come in nineteenth, while here he’s fourteenth. My reasoning is that those that used their quirks were ranked higher than those who didn’t use their quirks because they weren’t viable. Additionally, those who couldn’t use their quirks because of the nature of the tests, like Eijiro’s and Denki’s, where ranked higher than those who had a quirk that could be used but didn’t, being Izuku. Just thought I’d better explain my reasoning. 

Overall though, not much to add for this chapter. It was a long one, that’s for sure, and we got a little snippet about how Wheatley’s doing in space and Eli’s one in a million shot, hitting both Personality Cores. So for those wondering, yes, Wheatley will be back, as will Space Core. Fun fact as well, Space Core’s first rambling about wanting to go back to Earth is actually cut content from Portal 2, where he would initially realise that he wants to go back to Earth, but can’t. Fussy little machine.

Anyway, enough of the chapter, time for reviews.

Ar1adn3: Buddy, don’t tempt me! If I hadn’t already sorted out the Battle Trials, I would be very tempted to do that, but that aspect of canon is going to stay as it is. Good idea though.

Ronin_Alpha__The_First_Drifter: I’m glad you do, hopefully you’ll stick around for more.

mariic: I currently don’t have any plans for the lads of Team Fortress 2, so by all means, go ahead. Let me know if you make it, I’ll probably link it as a fic inspired by my own. I’d be keen to give it a read.

StarWanderer's Writing: Glad you enjoyed it, and probably not all that bad. After all, the training camp in the summer is more or less glamping rather than camping. I do like your ideas for the Left For Dead posters, I could probably make them into a string of movies made in the States that gained popularity with the more rebellious populations of Japan over the violence and such, so that could be an idea for a movie date. Maybe Vance could suggest it since he’s from the States? As for the Turret Poster, I have the perfect idea for that, so stay tuned, you’ll see it during the internship arc.

ultima-owner: You were right about the drop loop, that was actually my original plan for Chell to get her result. Pair it with her enhanced strength and you can see how she got the result that she did. Only way you could beat her was Eli’s quirk making him into a yeeting machine, Ochako casually breaking the laws of physics, and Momo using a damn field cannon, the same one she’ll use in the Sports Festival (still such a wild panel). As of right now, it’s too dangerous to open a portal to the Moon due to the vacuum it creates (emphasise on right now…)

TheGigaGamer75: Glad you liked it, and Chell more than deserves the life she now has. Poor girl’s been through a lot. And probably. I’ll likely add it as a, “are you serious right now?” moment between the two of them, realising that they’ll be sleeping in the same building as their rival. But if Izuku and Katsuki can manage, so can they. Also, ding ding ding, correct, I was referencing Kyoka’s mother, Jiro Mika. I literally capitalised her romanised name and swapped the I for a 1. Since Mika is canonically a musician and a fan of metal, I thought it would fit Chell’s taste in music.

i_really_should_be_sleeping: Okay, so some parts of your idea are actually plans that I have. GLaDOS has firmly remained isolated over the past two hundred years, but it’s been that way because of the Combine bombardment. Aperture Science’s main facility is firmly in the Wastelands, given the fact that there were parking lots and such seen at the end of Portal 1. That being said, I do plan to have the vastness of Aperture Science shown during what can only be described as the Escape From Aperture arc. When will it take place? I’ll let you all find out, mwahahaha!

Anyhoo, that’s all, folks. As is customary, the next chapter is called, “ Let’s Get to Know Each Other! ” After all, Class 1-A still don’t know each other all that much, do they. I also feel it’s something that Nezu would promote and Shota would reluctantly go along with.

See you then…

- Jevm

Chapter Text

A new day had dawned in Japan, and as Midoriya Izuku sat in his assigned seat in Class 1-A of U.A. High School, he couldn’t help but worry. After the terrifying first day that he’d had, where the threat of being removed from the Hero Course dangled over his head, one could understand why Izuku was feeling slightly nervous.

‘They wouldn’t do something like that twice in a row, right?’ he thought to himself. ‘Surely not. I’m sure Mr Aizawa only did that because it was the first day.’

And yet, despite the words he repeated to himself as reassurance, he wasn’t able to fully dispel his worries.

“Man, I wonder what classes we’ll do in the Hero Course,” Uraraka said, his bubbly new friend seeming to always find something to talk about. “You think we’ll get to choose what avenue of hero work we do? Oh man, I hope there are rescue options!”

“I’m certain that U.A. will provide us with a varied schedule,” Ida responded with a serious tone. “It is the most prestigious school in Eastern Japan.”

“In all of Japan, Ida,” Yamada responded from where she sat in between Sato and Hagakure’s desks at the back of the class. “I don’t care what Shiketsu says, they’re not as good as U.A.”

“She ain’t wrong,” Kacchan growled from his seat in front of Izuku’s (because of course Kacchan’s seat was in front of his). “U.A.’s able to call All Might, Endeavor, and Best Jeanist its former students. Who can Shiketsu claim?”

“Be that as it may,” Ida replied as he stood next to Izuku’s desk, “Shiketsu is still a well respected hero academy, known for the discipline that they instill in their students.”

“Tch, you call it discipline, I call ‘em bootlickers,” Kacchan scoffed. “Buncha holier than thou pricks.”

“Man, Ida, Shiketsu sounds like somewhere you’d fit in perfectly,” Yamada remarked before gasping, her mouth quickly covered with one hand. “Don’t tell me you’re entering your rebellious phase! Oh, what must your parents think of such scandalous actions?”

‘Wow, a team up from Kacchan and Yamada,’ Izuku thought to himself, watching with both slight worry as well as mild amusement as his new friend bickered with his classmates.

“Do you think we should step in?” Izuku whispered to Uraraka.

“Nah, I think it’s really fun to watch Ida cut loose,” she giggled back. “It’s good to have a rival, don’tcha think? Someone who can motivate you to be better?”

“Yeah, I get it,” Izuku nodded, his eyes being drawn to Kacchan. “Someone who you want to chase after, and one day, compete against as an equal.”

“Exactly,” Uraraka smiled. “Hey, Deku, do you think-”

“Quiet down,” Mr Aizawa’s stern voice commanded, cutting through the idle chatter of the class. Immediately, the room fell into silence, with Kacchan, Ida, and Yamada freezing mid argument.

“Everyone, take your seats,” their teacher huffed, and by the time he’d arrived at the teaching podium at the front of the class, everyone was quickly seated in their assigned places, though Uraraka and Ida had to make a quick dash to get to their seats on the other side of the class in time.

Their teacher quickly glanced around the room, apparently finding it appeasing. “Good,” he nodded, “no one decided to drop out after yesterday’s tests. It’s my belief that the false image that you kids have about Pro Heroes and the work we do should be shattered immediately. Things will be rough.

“However,” he continued with a stern, serious look, “they are far from over. Today, we’ll be doing something even I don’t want to do.”

‘Oh God!’ Izuku screamed in his mind. ‘What could it be that even Mr Aizawa is afraid of?! Is it another test even worse than yesterday’s?!’

“You all need to get to know each other.”

The room was silent as their teacher’s words failed to compute with what the class had been expecting.

“Principal Nezu has, despite my repeated vocal protests, much to my annoyance, decided that this is to be a mandatory activity across the entirety of the first years, teachers included,” Mr Aizawa sighed. He reached into the podium before pulling out stacks of whiteboards and markers. Taking each stack, he placed them on the front most desks in each row, with each stack having five whiteboards in total.

“Take a whiteboard and marker then pass the rest behind you. On your whiteboard, you’ll write your name. Then, when it’s your turn to come up and introduce yourself, you’ll give your name, which city you’re from, what your quirk is called as well as a brief explanation on what it does, something you like, your favourite food, as well as an interesting fact about yourself. If you’re an international student or a recommended student, mention that as well.”

Taking the stack from Kacchan, Izuku took one of each item before passing it back to Mineta who sat behind him. He uncapped the marker, quickly writing his name as neatly as possible.

“I’ll go first,” Mr Aizawa droned, placing his own whiteboard on the podium, allowing it to face outwards to show what characters made up his name. “I’m Aizawa Shota, your homeroom teacher, and I’m from Tokyo City. My quirk is called Erasure, and it allows me to cancel the quirks of anyone I look at. I like cats, I don’t have a favourite food, but I do like salty licorice. An interesting fact about myself is that my hero name, Erasure Hero: Eraser Head, was chosen for me by my best friend, Yamada Hizashi, the Voice Hero: Present Mic.”

‘What an interesting piece of hero trivia,’ Izuku thought to himself as he hastily scribbled down any information about his teacher that he thought was important or relevant. It was fortunate that he’d made the correct decision to bring his Hero Analysis journal to school today, with many fresh pages for his classmates and teachers.

“Okay, now that that’s over, Aoyama, you’ll go first,” Mr Aizawa instructed, stepping away from the podium and into the same yellow sleeping bag from yesterday, slumping in the corner. Aoyama was quick to stride up to the front, proudly displaying his name.

“ Bonjour! ” he greeted in French, giving a (somehow) sparkling wave. “My name is Aoyama Yuga, and I am an international student from the city-state of Paris! My dazzling quirk is called Navel Laser, which allows me to shoot a twinkling ray of light from my belly button. My favourite thing in the world is moi , my favourite food is croissants , and an interesting fact about myself is that I am trilingual in Japanese, French, and English!”

Upon finishing his introduction, he gave a bow to the class, resulting in some of them, Izuku included, to give him a polite yet bemused round of applause.

“My turn!” Ashido exclaimed, the pink haired and skinned girl practically bouncing up to the podium. “Hi everyone! My name is Ashido Mina, and I’m from Kawasaki City! My quirk is called Acid, and it allows me to secrete a corrosive liquid from my skin! I love dancing, my favourite foods are okra and nattō, and an interesting fact about me is that I learned to breakdance when I was young and I sometimes do street performances!”

This time the round of applause was much more eager, Ashido’s energetic personality seemingly infectious to the rest of the class. She pranced back to her seat, smiling at the girl who sat behind her as she took her place at the podium.

“Hello,” the green-haired girl greeted. “My name is Asui Tsuyu, but please, call me Tsu. I’m from Nagoya City, and my quirk is called Frog. It’s a mutation quirk that gives me all of the abilities of a frog, like a long tongue, sticky fingers, and strong legs. I like rainy days, and I would say my favourite food is jelly. I guess an interesting fact about myself is that I have two younger siblings; a brother named Samidare and a sister named Satsuki.”

‘So it was a mutation quirk,’ Izuku thought to himself as he made notes in his book. ‘I wonder if she only has general frog-like talents, or if she has the abilities of a specific frog species.’

Next up was Ida, someone Izuku actually knew personally, who showed his board to the class, proudly displaying his immaculate handwriting.

“Greetings,” he began, slightly pushing up his glasses. “My name is Ida Tenya, and I’m from Tokyo City. My quirk is called Engine, and it has created exhausts in my legs that allow me to increase my speed. I enjoy studying and my favourite food is beef stew. An interesting fact about myself is that my quirk uses orange juice as fuel, and it can’t be carbonated. Thank you.”

Izuku joined with some in the class in politely clapping as Ida took his seat and Vance, one of the two people who had an uncalculatable softball throw result, stood at the podium.

“Hello,” he nodded, giving a small smile. “My name is Vance Eli, and I’m from New York City, and I’m also an international student from the United Cities of America.”

That information immediately caught Izuku’s attention. After all, All Might began his hero career in the United Cities, and was almost as famous there as he was in his home country of Japan.

“As for my Sou-, uh, quirk, it’s called,” Vance began, probably stammering as he used the Japanese term of quirks, before sighing and hanging his head. “My quirk is called Zero-Point Energy Field Manipulation.”

No one in the class spoke. After all, they were all equally stunned by such a long, complex, and scientific name. Izuku, however, was quick to recover, muttering to himself as he wrote down notes.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a quirk having such a long name. And given the name, it must have something to do with altering the energy of an object.”

“That’s correct,” Vance said, causing some in the class to chuckle, Kacchan to growl, and Izuku to flinch as he realised he’d spoken aloud. 

“Put simply, every object has some level of energy to it. If I took this marker,” Vance explained, holding it in the air before dropping it onto the podium, “and drop it, then the object gains potential kinetic energy when it’s in freefall; the longer it falls, the more energy it builds, and the more kinetic energy is transferred upon impact.

“My quirk allows me to manipulate the field of energy that an object has, meaning I can do this,” he continued, picking up the marker once more and throwing it above everyone’s seated heads, only for the marker to quickly snap back, as if gravity had been altered, and gently staying in his hand. “By altering the energy field of the item, I’m able to create a new direction of potential kinetic energy, allowing me to attract objects to my hand.”

He held his hand out flat, allowing the class to see that the marker, rather than being stuck to his hand, slightly levitated above it.

“I’m also able to dramatically increase the energy in an object, allowing me to push larger objects in front of me or fire off smaller items in my hand. But, um, I don’t think I’d be allowed to show that now.”

“You guess correctly,” Mr Aizawa growled, revealing that he was still awake. 

“Right,” Vance nervously nodded, placing his marker back down. “Other than that, I like tinkering with machines, my favourite food is my father’s coffee cake, and an interesting fact about myself is that my father is a theoretical physicist while my mother is an inventor.”

‘So his quirk allows him to attract and repulse objects,’ Izuku summarised, filling in a page about his classmate. ‘I bet I could find some information on his parents as well if his father’s a scientist.’

“Guess it’s my turn,” a cheerful voice called out, immediately drawing Izuku’s attention from his notemaking to Uraraka who stood in front of the class.

“Hi everyone,” she grinned as she displayed how her name was structured. “My name is Uraraka Ochako, and I’m originally from Osaka City, but since it’s a while away, I’m staying in an apartment in Yokohama.”

A few murmurs of agreement rang out in the class, showing that she wasn’t the only one in that situation.

“My quirk is called Zero Gravity,” she explained, holding out her marker and letting go, with the pen floating in the air. “I’m able to remove the effect that gravity has on something if I touch all five fingers on it. I really like staring up at a clear, starry sky at night, and I love all Japanese foods, but I’d have to say mochi is my favourite. Oh, and one cool fact about me is that my parents own a construction company.”

As Izuku clapped, he couldn’t help but notice that Uraraka’s smile seemed to have faded slightly when talking about her parents.

“Hello, everyone,” Kaminari greeted, being the next to introduce himself. “My name’s Kaminari Denki, and I’m from Saitama City. My quirk’s name is Electrification. It allows me to store and discharge electricity from my body. Normally it only affects someone if they touch me, but if I push it, I can cause it to arc off of me, but I can’t control who it would hit yet. I like things that are trendy, my favourite food is hamburgers, and something cool I can do with my quirk is charge electronic devices.”

To demonstrate, Kaminari pulled out his phone from his pocket, faced the screen to the class to show it was turned off, and with a few small bolts of electricity coating his arm, the class gave a collective murmur of amazement and approval as the charging symbol lit up.

‘With a quirk like that, he’d be really strong in an industrial area,’ Izuku thought to himself. ‘There would be plenty of places to gather electricity as well as metal catwalks to electrify.’

“Hi there!” the next student greeted eagerly, practically slamming his whiteboard onto the podium’s surface. “My name is Kirishima Eijiro, and I’m also from Kawasaki City! My quirk’s name is Hardening. It’s a pretty basic quirk that allows me to harden my body to the point it’s nearly indestructible. It also makes my body jagged, allowing me to cut through metal. I like all things manly, and my favourite food is meat! An interesting fact about myself is that I’m a fan of retro heroes, like Crimson Riot or King Kinniku!”

However, despite Kirishima’s boisterous introduction, the next students’ was the exact opposite. Rather than vocally introducing himself, he spoke through messages written on his whiteboard.

“Hello,” it read, “my name is Koda Koji. I’m from Sapporo City.”

After allowing everyone to read the message, he erased it, continuing his introduction.

“My quirk is called Anivoice,” the new message read. “I can communicate with animals telepathically and give them instructions, but only if they are close by. I can also call out to them, but I’m shy. Any command I give them they’ll follow, no matter how dangerous they normally are.”

Once more, he erased the message before displaying his third and final writing.

“I like spending time in nature, and my favourite foods are anything vegetarian. An interesting fact about me is that my mother runs the largest Xenian wildlife preserve in Japan. I hope we all become friends.”

Continuing the apparent trend of large, stocky students was Sato, who Izuku remembered was one of Yamada’s friends.

“Hello,” he smiled as he displayed his name. “My name is Sato Rikido, and I’m from Hiroshima City. My quirk is called Sugar Rush; the more sugar I consume, the stronger I become. However, the stronger I get, the shorter the duration, so if I want to keep it going, I need to eat more sugar, and each time the duration is extended it requires larger amounts of sugar. I like baking sweet foods in my family’s bakery, my favourite food is cake, and an interesting fact about me is that I’m the seventh generation of my family to become a Pro Hero.”

That news created a stir within the class, Izuku’s eyes widening as he frantically tried to note down as many details that he could remember as well as theories as soon as they entered his frantic mind.

“So that means…” Kaminari began, only to trail off as the implication hit him.

“My great-great-great-great grandfather, Silverman, was one of the first vigilante heroes in Japan, and part of the first generation of people born with quirks,” Sato proudly explained before turning to look at Kirishima. “In fact, King Kinniku is my great-great grandfather.”

This caused yet another excited burst of chatter, topped off with Kirishima crying, in his own words, “Manly tears”. This chatter was quickly cut off, however, when Mr Aizawa’s quirk activated, sending a chill through everyone as they felt their quirks being suppressed.

“That’s enough,” he scolded. “Shoji, your turn.”

The third large male student in a row walked to the podium, his webbed arms held close to his side, with the top nub morphing itself into a mouth.

“Hello,” he greeted. “My name is Shoji Mezo, and I’m from Fukuoka City. My quirk is called Dupli-Arms. As you can see, I have six arms, and I’m able to create body parts out of the ends of four of them. These can be ears, eyes, mouths, or any other sensory organ. They are also stronger in detecting than my natural receptors. Because of my quirk making sleeves tedious to wear, I like wearing ponchos in winter and my favourite foods are takoyaki and squid ink pasta. An interesting fact about myself is that even though I am from Fukuoka, I was born in the Outlands south of the city.”

‘I wonder what that would’ve been like,’ Izuku thought to himself as Shoji took his seat and Jiro replaced him. ‘I imagine a quirk like his could’ve been really handy for detecting dangerous animals.’

“Hey,” Jiro greeted with a small wave. “My name’s Jiro Kyoka, and I’m also from Kawasaki. My quirk’s called Earphone Jack, and it’s turned my earlobes into jacks that I’m able to extend. Because of it, I’ve got really good hearing. I don’t have a favourite food, and I like listening to rock music.”

“Preach!” Yamada called out from her seat, causing Jiro to smirk in response.

“Finally, a cool fact about me is that my folks are musicians,” she finished, walking back to her desk as Tokoyami, a male student whose only quirk seemed to be a crow’s head, took his place at the podium.

“My name,” he began, speaking with a serious tone, “is Tokoyami Fumikage. I too hail from Kawasaki City. My quirk is called Dark Shadow, a demon who lurks within my soul, held back only by the light of the Sun.”

As if summoned, a dark mass of shadowy purple energy appeared, hovering by Tokoyami’s side. Its body was a uniform shade of black and purple, broken only by its glowing yellow eyes. Its head, like Tokoyami’s, was a crow’s head, and its hands formed large claws.

“Hi, everyone, nice to meetcha!” it waved, spoken in a cheerful voice, albeit distorted.

“I enjoy dwelling in gloomy places,” Tokoyami continued, his serious, almost chunibyo manner of speaking a stark contrast to his quirk’s, “and my favourite food is the forbidden fruit that saw humanity cast out of Eden, apples. As an interesting facet of my being, Dark Shadow is a rare case of a sentient quirk.”

However, while Tokoyami’s introduction was strange and edgy, Todoroki’s was downright frigid.

“Todoroki Shoto, Yokohama,” he said with a blank expression. “My quirk is Half-Cold Half-Hot; I can freeze and make ice with my right side while heat and make flames with my left. I like cold soba, being left alone, and an interesting fact is that I’m a recommended student.”

‘That sounds like a powerful quirk,’ Izuku thought to himself. ‘But, well, I’m not sure how good of a hero he’ll be with a personality like that.’

“And now it’s me!” the floating set of clothes that was Hagakure cheered, the sleeve of her blazer waving in the air. “Hi hi, everybody! My name is Hagakure Toru, and I’m from Tokyo City! My quirk is pretty obvious, and it’s called Invisibility. While you might think that it makes my body invisible, nope, that’s wrong! Instead, my quirk bends light around me, meaning it never touches and reflects off of me. This also means that I’m completely invisible to anything from the visible colour spectrum and beyond, including ultraviolet light. I’m addicted to caramels, and I love watching dokkiri.”

“Bless you,” Vance said.

“Oh, um, dokkiri are hidden camera prank videos,” Hagakure explained to the international student. “They have traps and pranks that people stumble upon, and a hidden camera captures their reactions! Oh, and a fun fact about me is that I’m a quarter Chinese!”

As Hagakure skipped? back to her seat, Izuku tensed himself as Kacchan walked up to the podium, knowing that something was going to go wrong.

“I’m Bakugo Katsuki from Yokohama,” he all but growled, slamming his whiteboard on the podium. “My quirk’s called Explosion; I sweat nitroglycerine from my palms that I can ignite at will. My favourite food is anything spicy, and I enjoy rock climbing. And I’m gonna be a No. 1 Pro Hero who surpasses All Might, so stay outta my way!”

‘And there we are,’ Izuku sighed, cautiously getting out of his seat all while trying to ignore the glare that Kacchan was sending him.

“H-Hi,” Izuku stammered, placing his whiteboard on display. “M-My name’s Midoriya Izuku, also from Yokohama. My quirk’s name is Super-Power; I can increase my strength a lot, but my body isn’t able to handle it properly without damaging itself. I enjoy observing Pros and their quirks, noting down all I can, and my favourite food is katsudon. I guess my interesting fact is that I’m a late bloomer with my quirk, as it only manifested earlier last year.”

That caused a few gasps and whispers amongst his classmates, but fortunately for Izuku’s self-esteem, none of them seemed to be judging him for it, aside from Kacchan, that is, whose eyes narrowed into slits as he scrutinised Izuku.

Fortunately, Mineta was quick to come up to the front, hopping up on a box underneath the podium due to his short stature.

“Hello everyone,” he greeted, the whiteboard displaying his name and only the very top of his head visible from the front. “My name is Mineta Minoru, and I’m from Kawasaki City. My quirk’s name is Pop Off, and it causes my hair to form as these round, purple balls that I’m able to pull off my head. They grow back right after they’re pulled off, and they’re really sticky. My favourite food is grapes, I love ladies, and a fun fact is that not everything about me is small.”

Izuku could clearly hear a few groans or gagging noises coming from his classmates as well as see a few grimaces, especially from his female classmates, yet none of that seemed to deter the confident manner in which Mineta walked. He truly was a pervert, and a proud one at that.

“Right, well, guess it’s my turn,” Yamada muttered, and it was only as she passed by his desk that Izuku realised just how tall she was, easily half a head taller than him thanks to the implants out of the back of her knee that made her walk on the front of her feet.

“Hi,” she greeted simply at the front of the class. “My name’s Yamada Chell, and I’m from Tokyo. My quirk’s called Portal, and it allows me to create portals between two locations, like so.”

She raised her arms, one pointed towards the ceiling and the other towards the closed door. Instantly, two holes formed in each of them, and when Chell walked through the hole in the door, she fell through the hole in the ceiling, reorienting herself in midair to land on her feet.

“My favourite food is Black Forest cakes, especially ones that Sato’s family bakes, and I like hanging out with my family. An interesting fact about them is that I have family in three of the four departments at U.A.: Dad’s a homeroom teacher for the General Studies course, my aunt’s a homeroom teacher for the Business course, and Uncle Shota is our homeroom teacher.”

‘Interesting,’ Izuku thought during his notetaking. ‘I wonder who her aunt is? And how are Present Mic and Mr Aizawa related? They don’t have the same name, nor do they look alike. There’s almost nothing public about Mr Aizawa’s private life, so maybe he married Present Mic’s sister? Does Present Mic have a sister who’s also a Pro Hero? There’s so much I need to find out!’

Finally was Yaoyorozu, who was almost as tall as Yamada, though her height was entirely natural.

“Hello,” she politely nodded. “My name is Yaoyorozu, I am from Nagoya and I am also a recommended student. My quirk is called Creation; if I can picture the molecular structure of an item, then I can create it using the lipids in my body, so long as it isn’t a living thing. One of my favourite activities is reading, especially encyclopedias and technical manuals, and, if I may, my favourite drink is tea, specifically from the Makaibari brand. As for an interesting fact about myself, my father is a member of the Hearts and Mind political party.”

‘A quirk that lets her create anything that isn’t alive?!’ Izuku practically screamed within his head, making triply sure he wasn’t mumbling aloud. ‘So that’s where her tools came from yesterday! That’s such a powerful quirk!’

“Right, now that that’s outta the way,” Mr Aizawa groaned as he rose from the ground, taking his place at the podium, “let’s discuss your class schedule…”

The rest of the day passed by relatively normally, with a few notable exceptions. While the classes they had throughout the day were normal, like Math, English, and Modern Literature, what was notable was that each subject was taught by Ectoplasm, Present Mic, or Cementoss respectively. Lunch was also an interesting affair, as U.A.’s cafeteria was managed by the Cook Hero: Lunch Rush. But more than that, Uraraka and Ida had decided to sit with Izuku! He actually had friends to eat lunch with, rather than having to find a place to eat where he wouldn’t be disturbed! Truly U.A. was the greatest school in all of Japan, nay, the world!

After lunch were the hero classes. While the other courses at U.A. had two classes after lunch, the Hero Course had three; one for Modern Hero Art History, taught by the R-Rated Hero: Midnight (who was apparently the aunt of Yamada, and very proud to declare it), while their final two classes were joined together, being the ones that Izuku was most excited for. After all, it was Hero Basic Training, and who better to teach such a class to the first years than the Symbol of Peace.

“I have,” a booming, confident voice called out from the hallway.

“He’s here!” Izuku squealed, practically vibrating in his seat.

“Come through the door, like normal!” All Might declared, leaning through the door in a manner that was very much NOT normal.

“I can’t believe All Might’s teaching us!” Izuku overheard Kirishima grin.

“Man, I’ve never had a chance to see him in person before,” Jiro added, her voice a healthy mixture of awe and nervousness.

“Oh wow, he’s wearing his Silver Age costume,” Vance gushed. “It’s been a few years since he wore that one.”

‘Twenty one years to be precise,’ Izuku thought to himself as he stared in awe at All Might’s old red and white costume with a blue flowing cape.

“I’m sure you all know what time it is!” All Might laughed as he stood at the front of the class. “Hero Basic Training! The class that’ll put you through all sorts of special training to mold you into heroes! And as a bonus, it also gives a ton of credits!

“No time to dally though! We’ve only got just under two hours, and we’ll be using all of it!” he proudly declared, reaching into a pocket to pull out a plaque, boldly displaying it to the class. “Because today’s activity is this: Battle Training!”

“Fuck yes,” Kacchan growled, immediately sending shivers down Izuku’s spine and warnings flashing through his brain.

“And for that, you need these!” All Might added, and with a press of a button, four panels in the walls emerged, each containing five boxes. “In accordance with the ‘quirk registry’ and the special request forms you filled out before being admitted, or the personal creations for a select few in the class, you all get-”

“Costumes!” the class cheered, almost everyone straining to leap out of their seats to grab their assigned case.

“After you change, head on down to Ground Beta where we’ll get started!” All Might declared, causing a flurry of movement as everyone got up out of their seats, moving over to their assigned panel. 

“Remember, looking good is very important, ladies and gentlemen!” All Might told them as he stood by the door, watching his students as they passed by. “Look alive now, because from today on, you’re all heroes!”

As Izuku passed All Might, he noticed his mentor’s smile widening just a fraction more. Izuku beamed, nodding to the towering hero. No words needed to be said between the mentor and successor; All Might’s pride was clear enough.

Not willing to linger and draw the attention of his classmates, Izuku hurried down the corridors to the changing rooms. While he and his fellow male classmates had already used the room the day before, now their hero journey felt real. After all, as the saying went, clothes make the Pros.

‘And besides,’ Izuku thought to himself as he slipped into his homemade costume. ‘What are the chances I’ll fight Kacchan today?’

Now, in case anyone has any corrections about Eli’s quirk, I’m not a scientist, I hated my physics class, and I’m simply going off of what the Gravity Gun is in Half-Life 2 as well as a quick google on what the hell zero-point energy is. There is some science behind it but I’m struggling to understand it, so I hope the explanation Eli gave made sense.

And yeah, in most settings, Koda has a fairly weak quirk. In this setting, however, since Xenian creatures inhabit the world, that makes his powers A LOT stronger. Antlion colony? A free army. Zombie hoard? Yoink, mine now. Gargantua? Tell it to delete a cardinal direction and it’s gone. Leaches in the water? Not with Koda around. (That gives me an idea for a beach episode/chapter with Koda being a lifeguard, politely telling leeches/ichthyosaurs to go away for a bit.)

Also, as a note to mention that I thought of while writing the chapter, the “First Generation”, referring to those born with quirks, are those around the same time as the Luminescent Baby, so All For One, Silverman, and the first three holders of One For All. In reality, however, there were those born nine months after the Combine’s suppression field went down who had minor mutations, like the mother of All For One. Just a difference between what the public knows and what the governments know.

Anyway, this was a fairly short chapter and quite light, all things considered. If anyone was wondering, I got the favourite food and places for almost all of the students from notes that Horkioshi, the mangaka of My Hero Academia, wrote about them.

On another note, we’re starting the Battle Trial arc, and I have a question: how long do you want this? In another story I wrote, My Monster Academia, I had a chapter per battle. I’ll probably do this again, but I wanted to gauge people’s opinions. I can confirm that the first battle is the canon Midoriya and Uraraka vs Bakugo and Ida, so I’ll probably have that fight from the spectator’s POV, but let me know, always keen to hear feedback and public opinion.

Speaking of public feedback, time for reviews!

i_really_should_be_sleeping: Yep, it was the son of Alyx and Gordon, not Uraraka. While both of them had the potential to get their softball that high up, Eli was the only one who actually had any force behind it, because it actually needed the escape velocity. Still, one-in-a-million-shot from Eli. His father would be proud.

BloodOrKetchup: Oh yeah, without a doubt. “I’ve created a device that can amplify quirks!” Cool, buddy, but can you create an A.I. incapable of understanding a paradox? Wheatley can’t. Try to make something so stupid he can’t understand a paradox. (And yes, I don’t count GLaDOS not falling for it, as will be explored later in the series)

Starlight_skywolf: Currently, not much besides regretting past actions. And yeah, pretty much. Obviously Wheatley is going to be shocked that Chell does not, in fact, have brain damage, but simply didn’t talk out of spite. Probably gonna have to add a ‘Wheatley redemption’ tag or something, because that’s set in stone, we’re making an Aperture crew. Place your bets on who’s filling out the roster, because I already know which characters will be a part of it, though more have a chance of being added.

Penguin-man (Guest): “Yamada? Who is this British robot?!” “He’s my friend, Uraraka, and I’m taking him home. I’ve never asked Dad to keep a stray before, but I’m going to do it now.”

OobyDooby: Okay, normally I don’t reply to comments from past chapters to simply reduce my workload, but boy howdy, you left quite a few, and all of them are greatly appreciated, so I’ll do them all at once, a sentence per comment. Yes, Chell is an S-tier hater, and could probably compete in the Olympics for it, being rivaled of course by Bakugo. Glad you like the series. Chell’s had it rough for sure, so I take extra pleasure in giving her the life she deserves. Yep, that was my main idea for the Chell and Tenya rivalry, both of them are similar in many ways, but so very different in others, hence the clashing of ideology. For upgrades to her quirk, yeah, you basically hit it on the head with that. And yikes, that would be one hell of an intimidation tactic, and yes, Bakugo is going to be glad to have someone who doesn’t hold back. It won’t be a friendship like he has with Kirishima, but definitely a healthy respect.

StarWanderer's Writing: They’re not gonna stay on the Moon, that’s for sure. And that’s not a bad idea. I’d never heard about the series before, but boy was it fun to watch. Most of the Personality Cores probably won’t make an appearance, but there were a few who I think I can fit into the story, so thanks for the suggestion.

Defenetly-Not-Ai (Guest): Unfortunately, that would be considered a violation of the quirk-use rules that U.A. has; no damaging school property and no harming or endangering the safety of fellow students/staff. Now, using her quirk to cut in line ahead of them? Nothing wrong with that.

TheGigaGamer75: Yep, Ojiro and Sero are goneburger. Out of Class 1-A, they’re two of the weakest in terms of personality or impact to the story. Rikido in this one at least has the fact that he bakes cakes, so he gets Chell’s vote of approval. Also, there’s the fact that apparently, according to Horikoshi, the mangaka himself, he found it impressive that Ojiro passed the entrance exams with his quirk. And yes, Chell is going to forgive Wheatley, since she’s had a year since she was betrayed (twice) in the span of a few hours, and I simply adore Wheatley, even when he went mad after being plugged into the Master Control. And damn, that’s a good idea. I might do something where she reflects on how U.A. isn’t how she thought it would be, both in regards to her being the only one who was wrong, as well as why someone like Mineta was allowed into U.A. (he has a valid reason, but Yaoyorozu isn’t thinking clearly since he’s being a perv)

ultima-owner: Yeah, I have some ideas to make it safe for Chell, but safe for those around her? Less easy. And yeah, no way is Chell making friends with Mineta (nor would any of the girls for that matter), and Bakugo is very much not happy at being upstaged. Not the same kind of hatred he has for Izuku at the start of the series, but more of a “this damn athlete, always coming ahead of me.” A healthy anger, if that makes sense.

grindy_rust_rustbucket (Guest): “Guys, just yell paradoxes at them, trust me!” Cue nervous screaming of contradictory statements. In all seriousness, you might be surprised how it’ll go down. GLaDOS has had two hundred years for her hatred to fester, so she’s made some, let’s say morally black decisions. Man, can’t wait for the trauma certain characters are going to experience. Existential dread, anyone?

Anyway, I’ll end with that ominous ending. Next chapter will be called “ Team-Ups and Showdowns ”. We’re in the Battle Trial arc, ladies and gents. It’ll probably be five or six chapters long, so strap in.

See y’all next time…

- Jevm

Chapter Text

Toshinori Yagi, better known to the world as All Might, Japan’s No. 1 Pro Hero and the world’s Symbol of Peace, stood outside the entrance to Ground Beta, waiting for his class of young wards to arrive. While he was nervous, it was a happy kind of nervous, like a child waiting to find out what they got for Christmas.

‘Oh, I can’t wait to see what their costumes look like,’ he beamed. This was always something he loved to see, even before Nana, his mentor and mother figure, took him in as her protege. The costumes of heroes were all so varied and different. Some loved utilitarian designs, others loved flashy, elaborate designs, while others loved to have gadgets and gizmos in theirs.

And as Toshinori heard the first steps in the corridor leading into the testing site, he got his first glimpse of his students in all of their costumed glory.

‘Hmm, very nice, young Asui, goggles are surprisingly useful. Did young Tokoyami really only want a black cloak? Ah, with his quirk that does make sense. Very nice choice, young Aoyama, Ida, Yamada and Vance, a suit of armour is very practical. Hmm, young Ashido, Kaminari, Shoji and Jiro don’t seem to desire much, they’re practically wearing street clothes. Well, young Ashido’s costume is admittedly quite vibrant.’

As more and more of his students filled out into the cityscape, Toshinori also started to notice a few who had a few issues with their costumes.

‘Hmm, that is quite a few explosive-looking items, young Bakugo. I do hope the Support Companies knew what they were doing. Is young Mineta wearing a diaper? Surely not, it must have been intended to be a grape bowl. Oh well.’

The class were all chatting excitedly with each other, complimenting and comparing each other’s costumes.

“Gee, Sato, your costume really doesn’t hide all that much, does it?” young Hagakure snickered, her gloves held up to where her face was. And that was the only reason All Might was able to see her, due to the fact that young Hagakure had seemed to have used a loophole in the morality laws of hero costumes to go naked, due to her invisible body.

“I mean, I didn’t really need much,” came young Sato’s sheepish reply. “Anything more than this would just get in the way.”

Toshinori could understand that mentality, as he had one of the most basic hero costumes around, little more than a bodysuit. While young Sato had a similar outfit, with a fully bodysuit that came with a face mask that left only his mouth exposed, he also had a utility belt around his waist, most likely to hold the sugar his quirk required.

“And you went all out, Yamada!” Hagakure excitedly continued. “You look like someone out of a sci-fi movie!”

Indeed, young Yamada had opted for a full suit of sleek, aerodynamic armour, made of white armour worn on a black bodysuit. Along her torso and legs was white lighting, her left arm had blue lighting while her right had orange. Her helmet completely enclosed her face, covered with a reflective black visor, while an open segment at the back allowed her hair to flow out in a ponytail.

Indeed, many of the students were complimenting or admiring their classmate’s choice of costumes, and after a short headcount where he made sure not to forget young Hagakure, All Might realised they were only missing young Midoriya.

Rushing footsteps sounded out from the tunnel behind his class, and seeing his own protege emerging from the tunnel, Toshinori decided to do a quick readover of the cheatsheet he had devised for this class. After all, it was good for his successor to be making new friends, and Toshinori really wanted to make a good impression with his students on his first day. And judging from the conversation that young Midoriya was having with young Ururaka, he didn’t have to worry about the first point.

“Looking good, everyone!” he complimented. “Shall we begin, my young wards?! It’s time for Battle Training!!”

Before Toshinori could continue, he took notice of young Midoriya’s costume. While the green jumpsuit was fairly bland yet practical, what really stood out were the two strands of cloth on top of his mask. While anyone would assume they were rabbit ears, Toshinori knew that they were a replica of his hairstyle.

‘Way to make it obvious!’ Toshinori snicked to himself, covering his mouth in an attempt to hold it in. He knew his protege idolised him, but knowing it and seeing it manifest were two separate things entirely.

“Sir!” young Ida asked, raising his hand and inadvertently calming Toshinori’s fit of giggles. “This appears to be the same field used in the Entrance Exam. Will we once again be performing cityscape manoeuvres?!”

“Nope! You’ll be moving on to step two!” Toshinori explained. “Indoor Antipersonnel battle training! Villain battles are most commonly seen outdoors, but statistically, the most heinous villains are more likely to appear indoors. Between confinement, house arrest, and black market deals, in this hero-filled society of ours, the cleverest villains out there lurk indoors! You’ll now be split into Villain Teams and Hero Teams and face off in two-on-two indoor battles!”

“So no basic training?” young Asui asked, tilting her head.

“Practical experience teaches you the basics!” Toshinori reasoned. “The distinction here is that you won’t be fighting disposable robots.”

Although Toshinori was going to continue his explanation of how the battles were going to go, his students were perhaps a bit too eager.

“What determines victory?” young Yaoyorozu asked, slightly raising her hand.

“Can I just blast everyone away?” young Bakugo growled.

“Are you threatening to expel someone, like Mr. Aizawa did?” young Uraraka timidly asked.

“How do we proceed to divide ourselves into teams?” young Ida asked, raising his hand above his head.

“How fabulous is my cape?” young Aoyama asked, being the only one to ask an off-topic question.

“One at a time!” Toshinori cried, a sweat mark trailing down his temple. “My quirk isn’t super hearing!”

“Listen up!” he declared, pulling out his cheatsheet. “Here’s the deal. The villains will be hiding a nuclear weapon in the hideout. The heroes have to go in and take care of it, like you’d see in a western comic. Now, to answer your questions.

“First, young Yaoyorozu. The heroes have a limited amount of time to either capture the villains or secure the weapon. The villains must either capture the heroes or protect the weapon until time is up. Make sense?”

“Yes sir,” the tall girl nodded, “thank you.”

“Second, young Bakugo. This is a practical experience, so I expect all of you to make full use of your quirks. However, bear in mind that this is a TRAINING exercise. I will step in if anyone takes it too far, understood?”

The ash-blond simply grunted with a scowl on his face, but his lack of rebuttal made it clear that he got the message.

“Third, young Uraraka. No, don’t worry, I have no intention to expel anyone without good reason. And no, failing to perform well today is not a good reason in my books.”

A brunette nodded her head, clearly relieved with his answer.

“Fourth, young Ida. Your battle partners will be decided by drawing lots,” he explained, bringing forth a box with a hole in the top, inside of which were slips, two for every team, ranging for ‘A’ to ‘J’.

“Is that really the best way?!” young Ida asked, and even though his face was concealed within his helmet, Toshinori could hear the shock in his voice.

“It makes sense,” young Midoriya explained, “because Pros often have to team up with heroes from other agencies on the spot during emergencies.”

“I see!” young Ida exclaimed, nodding to his friend before bowing to Toshinori. “I apologise for getting ahead of myself. My mistake!”

“It’s fine,” Toshinori waved off, before turning his gaze to the final student. “And finally, young Aoyama, your cape is certainly, um, sparkly?”

Aoyama seemed to like Toshinori’s answer, sticking his nose in the air with a triumphant smile.

“Alright, if there are no other questions?” Toshinori asked, and fortunately no one stepped forth with a query. “Very good, let’s get to it! Each of you step forward in order of your class number, and take a single slip of paper. On it you will see which team you will be a part of. From there we’ll sort who will be our courageous heroes, and who will be our dastardly villains. First up, young Aoyama!”

The sparkly student stepped forth, and with a flourish dove his hand into the box. After swirling it around, it pulled with a strip of paper, with the letter ‘E’ written on it.

“E for exquis,” he said, walking back to the clump of students.

After this, each student came up in turn. Young Asido, being student No. 2, also pulled forth the letter ‘E’, causing her and Aoyama to be sorted into their first team. After her came the next students, each of them drawing a different letter. Asui drew the letter ‘H’, Ida drew ‘D’, Vance drew ‘I’, Uraraka drew ‘A’, Kaminari drew ‘G’, Kirishima drew ‘J’, and Koda drew ‘F’. After this, teams started to emerge. First was Sato, who also drew ‘F’, pairing him with Koda.

Shoji drew ‘B’, and Jiro drew ‘G’, forming the third team with Kaminari. Tokoyami drew ‘H’, forming a team with Asui, and Todoroki drew ‘B’, forming a team with Shoji. Hagakure drew ‘I’, forming a team with Vance, Bakugo drew ‘D’, forming a team with Ida, both of them being surprised with this fact, and Midoriya drew ‘A’, much to the excitement of both he and Uraraka.

‘That’s good,’ Toshinori thought after seeing their reactions, ‘at least young Midoriya will be fighting alongside someone he knows.’

After this, Mineta drew ‘C’, Yamada drew ‘J’, forming a team with Kirishima, and Yaoyorozu drew ‘C’.

“And with that final draw, young Mineta and Yaoyorozu, you two will be our final team, Team C. Makes sense?”

“Yes sir,” Yaoyorozu nodded, while Mineta simply stared at his teammate’s curves.

“Young Mineta, did you hear me?” Toshinori said, causing the small student to flinch.

“Uh, yes sir,” he nodded, his face lightly sweating.

‘Hmm, I’ll need to keep an eye on that one,’ Toshinori thought. ‘U.A. likely can’t afford a potential lawsuit from the Yaoyorozu Conglomerate, and even if they could, I know Nezu would somehow get the money out of my pocket.’

Toshinori moved over to where two boxes stood on concrete pillars. One was painted black with the word ‘Villain’ painted on the front in white text. The other was a white box with the word ‘Hero’ painted on the front in black. 

“Moving on,” he declared, “first up are, these!”

In each hand he held aloft a ball from each box.

“The heroes are Team A, Uraraka and Midoriya! The villains are Team D, Ida and Bakugo!”

This caused a reaction out of both young Midoriya and Bakugo, both of them glancing towards each other.

“Here’s how this will go,” Toshinori said, drawing the attention of the class back to him. “The villain team goes in first! They will have five minutes to locate the bomb, scout out the building, and prepare any defences that they wish. After those five minutes, the fifteen minute timer begins, and the hero team is allowed to sneak in. The rest of us will watch via CCTV!”

“Over there is the entrance to the Monitor Room,” Toshinori continued, pointing to a door behind the class. “Everybody else, head on in, I’ll join you in a moment. Teams A and D, follow me!”

The class split up; sixteen of them heading to the Monitor Room, with the other four following Toshinori as he led them to the first Battle Building.

“All four of you will need these,” Toshinori said, holding out four rolls of tape, four layout maps, as well as four earpieces.

“What are these?” Ida asked, holding up the roll of tape and examining it.

“That is Capture Tape!” Toshinori explained with a laugh. “If either the heroes or the villains wrap a piece of that around a part of their opponent's body, they are considered out for the rest of the match. Be careful, just one slip up can be the end of it, so stay vigilant. The second set of items is the layout of the building. Both the heroes and the villains are given them, though the villains can use these to plan their defences. Finally, the earpieces are for you to keep in contact with your teammates, even if you are separated. They can also be used for me to contact you in case the situation calls for it. All clear?”

Everyone nodded, with each person taking one each of the provided items.

“Now, young Ida and Bakugo,” Toshinori said to the villain team, “remember, as I said, this is meant to be a practical experience. However, knocking out your opponent isn’t necessary, simply wrapping the Capture Tape around them will do. We will do more live fire exercises in the future, but that is then and this is now. Understood?”

“Understood, All Might,” Ida nodded, but Bakugo remained silent.

“Bakugo?” Toshinori prompted. “Did you hear me?”

“Yeah, don’t blow ‘em up too much, got it,” Bakugo growled. “Can we head in now or what?”

“Yes, once you and young Ida step through those doors, your time starts. No time for dillydallying.”

Bakugo just nodded, stepping through the doors to the building with Ida close behind him.

“Alright, once the five minutes that the villain team has to prepare is up, you both can head in,” Toshinori explained to Midoriya and Uraraka. “Remember, you have fifteen minutes to either find and touch the nuclear bomb, thus deactivating it, or capture both of the villains. Good luck.”

“Thank you, All Might,” Midoriya beamed, with young Uraraka nodding eagerly.

Toshinori simply gave them a nod in return before turning around and walking off to the Monitor Room.

‘Come on, young Midoriya,’ Toshinori thought to himself. ‘I know you can do this. Good luck.’

-]l[-

“Indoor Antipersonnel Battle Training, start!” All Might announced, speaking into a mic on the desk.

The class had found the Monitor Room to be massive, easily fitting their class three times over and still have room to spare. Due to a lack of windows, the only illumination came from the many screens that dominated one of the walls on the room. Each screen showed a different perspective from within the buildings, and was able to select which of the test buildings to monitor. Due to the many angles that the building would have, U.A. had apparently filled each building with CCTV cameras, ensuring that there weren’t any blindspots, perfect for a teaching experience.

“Watch closely and try to learn something, everyone!” All Might said, pulling out a pad and pen, likely for their teacher to jot down his thoughts on the battle trial.

The class watched as Midoriya and Uraraka entered the building through a side window, being careful to make as little noise as possible.

The hero duo continued to walk down a line of corridors, and it was only now that Chell really paid attention to the building the test was in. The walls were bare, consisting of basic concrete panels. Seeing how Cementos was a teacher at U.A., it made sense that the school would make use of his quirk to create cheap, easy to make buildings.

But while her classmates were focusing on Midoriya and Uraraka sneaking through the building, Chell was wrestling in her mind over her thoughts on Midoriya. In the Entrance Exam, he had shown such a brave, caring spirit, someone who had the heart to be a hero. She’d seen the sheer power he was able to produce against the Zero-pointer, but she also knew from the test yesterday that he had barely any control over it. Her pragmatic side, one that had dominated her life out of necessity, now found itself warring against her emotional side. He deserved to be a hero, she knew that, but she also knew that the world was cruel and uncaring, and he’d be chewed up and spat out as he was now.

But while Midoriya and Uraraka were checking around corners as they made their way through the building, being careful to not make too much noise, their luck could only hold for so long.

“Woah, a sneak attack!” Mineta, the short boy with purple hair gasped, as the screen showed Bakugo leaping out from the next corridor.

The ash-blond lashed out a hand, an explosion bursting forth and slamming into the wall where the heroes had been standing only seconds before. Midoriya managed to leap into Uraraka, throwing the both of them out of the way. However, as Midoriya straightened his posture, Chell noticed that he hadn’t emerged unscathed. Part of Bakugo’s explosion had managed to hit him, ripping his mask apart, causing only the right side of his face to be covered in the green bunny mask.

“That’s low, Bakugo!” Kirishima shouted, his frustration thick in his voice. “Sneak attacks are so unmanly!”

“Yet they are a valid strategy!” All Might argued, his gaze fixed on the screens like the rest of the class. “This is practical experience!”

“Maybe so, but Midori sure can dodge!” Ashido grinned as she stood next to Kirishima, pointing at the screens. “And look at that throw!”

Bakugo had attempted to swing another explosion at Midoriya, only for the greenet to grapple the arm, and using the momentum from the swing, perform a textbook slam over the shoulder.

Bakugo slammed into the ground hard, and even though the class couldn’t hear anything within the Monitor Room, they could almost see his breath being forced out of his lungs from the impact.

“““““Ooo!””””” many in the class winced at the sight.

Chell had to admit, while Midoriya didn’t seem to have any control over his quirk, he was certainly able to make up for it with technique and strength.

Bakugo wasn’t out of it yet, as he slowly rose to a crouch, glaring over his shoulder at Midoriya who stood before him, fists raised and ready.

Midoriya seemed to be saying something to Bakugo, and judging by his mouth, it quickly developed into yelling something. Bakugo was quick to respond in turn, before pressing on something in his ear.

Looking at the other screens, Chell saw Ida doing the same thing, standing next to the fake nuclear bomb.

“What are they saying?” Kirishima asked, voicing the question many of them had in their mind. “These fixed cameras don’t have any sound.”

“They’re communicating with micro transceivers!” All Might explained. “We give them to the battlers along with the building blueprints.”

All Might then pulled what looked to be a roll of sticky tape, holding it in the air for the class to see. “Also, this is Capture Tape! Tying this around your opponent is sufficient proof of capture!”

“So they’ve only got fifteen minutes, but the heroes don’t know where the bomb is, right?” Chell asked.

“Yes, that’s correct!” All Might laughed. “While both heroes and villains were given a map of the building, the villain’s maps showed them where the bomb was, so they could make the most of the setup time they were given. After all, villains that are hiding within their lair will know where the bomb they are trying to hide will be!”

“The hero teams are at a real disadvantage, huh,” Ashido noted, with many in the class murmuring in agreement.

“That just means you all have to do what Aizawa told you,” All Might said, turning to the class. “Say it with me!”

“““““PLUS ULTRA!!””””” the class cheered.

“Ah, Monsieur Bakugo!” Aoyama noted, being one of the few in the class to not join in the chant.

Chell turned her attention back to the screens, seeing Bakugo launch off the ground with his explosions. Midoriya must have yelled for Uraraka to run, since the Gravity Girl started sprinting away from the conflict.

Midoriya tried to fend off Bakugo, but the explosive blond seemed to have learnt his lesson, as an explosion from his left threw him to the right, allowing him to land a kick to the back of Midoriya’s head. However, the greenet wasn’t down, as instead of getting back up or retaliating, Chell noticed the line of Capture Tape that was about to be wound around Bakugo’s leg.

“No way!” Hagakure gasped out loud. “He's going for the capture!”

Bakugo let forth another massive explosion from his right, but Midoriya anticipated it, leaping to the side and out of the way.

“He’s amazing,” Sato observed, visibly tense with nervousness as he watched, standing next to Chell. “Going toe-to-toe without using his quirk.”

“But I think he’s only angered Bakugo,” Kaminari winced, watching as Midoriya ran away from Bakugo, rounding a corner and hiding from view. Bakugo was more than pissed, yelling something to Midoriya while explosions burst from his hands, his expression filled with rage. “Damn, he’s really scary. I don’t envy Midoriya at all having to fight him.”

“And it would seem that Uraraka has found her quarry,” Tokoyami said in an ominous voice. Indeed, one of the screens showed Ida, still in the room with the bomb, but he was unaware of Uraraka poking her head round the corner. While she seemed to be determined, Ida’s next actions broke her concentration.

“Is, is Ida…” someone asked in confusion as Ida seemed to be laughing with his hands in the air. It almost seemed as if…

“Hey, All Might?” Chell asked the teacher, her lips trembling as she desperately tried not to laugh. “Is Ida,”

“Yes, young Ida is monologuing and really hamming up the role of a villain,” All Might chuckled. “Ah, and it seems young Uraraka found it amusing as well.”

Indeed, Uraraka had apparently laughed out loud, as Ida instantly snapped his gaze around, turning to face the other member of the hero team. He gestured around the room, and while the class couldn’t hear what he was saying, they understood the message; there was nothing in the room for her to use her quirk on. Uraraka seemed to know this as well, slowly backing her way out of the room. She pressed on her earpiece, communicating with Midoriya, who had stopped in the middle of a hallway. He glanced up, possibly to judge where he was in the building, only for the hunter to catch up to the hunted.

“Oh, that’s not good,” Kaminari muttered, “Bakugo found Midoriya.”

Standing at the end of the hallway was Bakugo, blocking off the only way out. His right arm was raised, the grenade-like gauntlet pointed at Midoriya. They exchanged some words unheard to the class, with Dynamite pulling back the handle of his grenade-gauntlet, revealing a pin.

‘No way! Are Bakugo’s gauntlets…?’ Chell wondered, only for All Might to answer her question.

“Bakugo, stop it now, kid!” the Symbol of Peace exclaimed into a mic. “Are you trying to kill him?!”

Bakugo either didn’t hear or didn’t care, because as he pulled the pin, an explosion burst forth.

BOOM!!

The class all let out cries of shock and worry as tremors could be felt within the Monitor Room.

“I thought this was just practice!” Kirishima cried out, using an arm to hold onto Ashido, both of them helping to keep the other steady.

“Midoriya, kid!” All Might exclaimed. “Can you hear me? Are you alright?”

While Chell was worried about her classmate’s safety, movement from another screen caught her attention. Uraraka had taken the distraction of Bakugo’s explosion as an opportunity, rushing forward and leaping over Ida, her quirk in use as she floated towards the bomb. 

However, Ida wasn’t idle. Just before Uraraka could touch the weapon and secure the hero team the victory, he grabbed the bomb, repositioning it out of the way in a burst of speed. Uraraka took a tumble, her helmet coming off as she crashed into a wall.

Chell heard All Might give a sigh of relief, and looking at another screen saw the smoke and dust from the explosions clearing, revealing a scuffed up Midoriya, alive and conscious.

“Sir, shouldn’t you stop him?” Kirishima asked, his voice raised in worry. “Bakugo’s crazy. He’s looking to kill!”

“Bakugo, use that move again,” All Might said, quieting the many murmurs and whispers among the class, “and I will forcibly end the match. You will lose. Using massive attacks like that indoors is just asking to have your own stronghold destroyed! Whether hero or villain, it’s a bad move! And a good way to lose points!”

Bakugo clearly heard their teacher, gripping his head and letting out an inaudible yell of frustration. He burst off of the ground, rocketing towards Midoriya, who seemed to be getting ready to intercept Bakugo again. However, before he could grab him, Bakugo ignited an explosion beneath him to launch himself over Midoriya’s head, the heat and force from the explosion acting as a smokescreen, causing Midoriya to not see his opponent reposition behind him. Bakugo let out another set of explosions, one from each hand, the left stabilising his movement in the air and the right slamming into Midoriya’s back.

“He used the first explosion to simultaneously feint and change his own tack,” Shoto observed. “Then he followed up immediately with another.”

“He doesn’t seem like a thinker, but that strategy was fairly intricate,” Yaoyorozu added.

“Man, it’s not looking good for Midoriya, Yamada,” Hagakure muttered.

Bakugo swung his right arm while Midoriya was reeling from the blow the explosion to his back landed, the right arm slammed into Midoriya’s own right arm. Quickly grabbing Midoriya’s elbow, Bakugo let out a series of explosions with his left arm, creating momentum as he slammed Midoriya over his shoulder, causing him to land on his back, just the same as what Midoriya did to Bakugo only minutes earlier.

“This is just torture now!” Ashido cried out. “He could’ve already ended it with the Capture Tape!”

“Not very hero-like of him,” Tokoyami said.

“I thought Midoriya was good,” Yaoyorozu muttered, “but Bakugo’s battle sense just can’t be beat. And in the face of such a superior opponent, all Midoriya can do now…”

“...is flee,” Chell finished, watching as Midoriya scrambled up off the floor, trying to get away from Bakugo. 

“It’s not very manly, but he doesn’t have a choice,” Kirishima admitted.

Midoriya tried to escape but was trapped. A wall of concrete behind him, and a VERY angry Bakugo in front of him.

As Bakugo stalked forwards, he continued to yell, and whatever he said seemed to have affected Midoriya, who started to yell right back at him.

“He’s not going for the shot,” Ashido realised. “Bakugo sure is confident, huh.”

Their argument however didn’t last long. The two students started tensing up, both right arms swinging out for a hit on the other. Through the screen, Chell noticed the sparks coming off of Midoriya’s arm as the right sleeve of his costume ripped from the pressure. Likewise, Bakugo’s hands were glowing with explosive sweat, the prelude to another powerful explosion.

Whatever the outcome of the blows, no matter who was left standing, everyone in the Monitor Room knew it was going to end badly.

“Sir!” Kirishima shouted to All Might, who seemed frozen at the sight. “This looks bad, you need to stop it! Sir!”

“Both of you!” All Might began. “Stop th-”

But before he could finish, something caught his attention. Movement from the room housing the weapon drew everyone’s attention, seeing Uraraka grabbing hold onto one of the supporting pillars in the room.

Before the class could wonder why she had done that, Midoriya and Bakugo’s blows landed.

BOOM!!

SMASH!!

While Bakugo’s blast connected directly with Midoriya, the greenet’s blow flew upwards, the air pressure slamming into the ceiling.

Multiple screens captured the different perspectives, a few of them showing the damage the hit caused, smashing through multiple floors of the building, including the weapon room. The floor burst open, causing rubble to fly skyward. Uraraka, still holding onto the pillar that was now disconnected to the floor, must have used her quirk on it, for there was no other explanation as to how such a short girl would have been able to swing the pillar, smashing it into the flying debris.

Ida instinctively raised his hands to cover his helmed face, protecting it from the makeshift projectiles that were launched at him. Of course, this prevented him from noticing Uraraka, who used her quirk on herself to leap over the gap, floating through the air. Releasing her quirk’s effect on herself, she collided with the top of the weapon, holding onto it with both arms and legs.

“The hero…” All Might began, just as surprised by the ending as the class. “The hero team…WINS!!”

While the class should have been celebrating their classmates’ victory, only stunned silence could be heard. After all, who could have predicted an ending like that.

“You all wait here,” All Might ordered, moving from his spot by the computer terminal. “I’ll go check on your classmates. I’ve already called for a stretcher for young Midoriya, but it’s always good to be sure.”

With that, the Symbol of Peace burst out of the door, creating a wind gust in his wake.

“The losing team is nearly unscathed, while the winners are down for the count,” Tokoyami stated. “They lost the battle, but they won the war, so to speak.”

After a few minutes of waiting, All Might returned with Ida, Bakugo, and Uraraka in tow. Midoriya was missing, but All Might explained that he was taken to Recovery Girl’s office so he could be healed and recuperate.

“Well, I’d say the V.I.P. in this battle was Ida!” All Might declared as he started the post-battle analysis.

“Whaa?!” Ida gasped, just as surprised as everyone else why he had been chosen.

“Not Ochako or Midoriya?” Asui asked. “Even though they won?”

“I wonder why?” All Might rhetorically asked, gazing over the class. “Anyone know?!”

“I do, sir,” Yaoyorozu called out, her hand sticking into the air. “It’s because Ida was the most able to adapt to the scenario. From what I saw, Bakugo’s every action was motivated by an obvious personal grudge. And as you mentioned before, sir, using destructive attacks indoors is foolish. Midoriya’s performance suffered from the same faults.”

Bakugo didn’t even respond, simply staring at the floor, only the slightest twitch of his lips showing any indication he was more than a statue.

“Uraraka lost focus halfway through,” Yaoyorozu continued. “And her final attack was far too haphazard. Such an attack would have been unthinkable if the nuclear weapon were real.”

Uraraka only looked at the ground, though her expression at least showed she was accepting her criticism.

“But Ida formed an actual counter-strategy,” Yaoyorozu concluded, “and he envisioned what the actual struggle would be like. He was only too late in reacting at the very end. The hero team only won because this was a training exercise with exploitable constraints.”

The class was stunned silent, the only sounds being Ida’s quiet sniffles from how touched he was by Yaoyorozu’s praise, all the while Uraraka reassuringly patted him on the back.

“I-I’d also add that Ida was a bit too stiff,” All Might hesitated, his face tensed, most likely from Yaoyorozu’s spot on answer, “but yes, you’re correct.”

“We’ve got to start at the bottom and work up!” Yaoyorozu declared, her hands on her hips. “And if we don’t earnestly cheer each other on, we’ll never be top heroes!”

‘Well damn,’ Chell blinked, somewhat shocked by her classmate’s elaborate answer. ‘I guess her daddy didn’t buy her way into U.A., not with that answer.’

“Well,” All Might began, drawing out the Hero and Villain boxes, “I guess we should see who’s up next!”

All Might plunged his hands into the boxes, and after a second of deciding drew out the deciding letters.

“And our next teams are…!”

Okay, and I’ll leave it there. To be honest, I don’t know what to think about this chapter. It’s effectively filler, since I didn’t feel comfortable leaving it out, but nothing’s really changed, aside from some internal dialogue. Probably one of the weaker chapters to be honest.

Oh well, I can rest assured that next chapter is going to be much more exciting! For anyone who was keeping track, the second round of the Battle Trial, Team B vs Team I, is going to see Shoji and Todoroki playing the heroes, while Hagakure and Vance play the villains. My OC finally gets his time to shine!

‘Course, this also means that Chell will be fighting alongside Kirishima as the villains, fighting against Asui and Tokoyami.

As an aside, I noticed when writing this chapter, since I was going off the manga, that Asui refers to Uraraka by her given name Ochako. Guess our favourite frog really isn’t bothered by that cultural norm, huh?

Anyway, enough from me, time for reviews.

TheGigaGamer75: Yep, I’m doing my best so everyone gets some time in the limelight. And yeah, no way would Chell want any reminder of Aperture at the moment. And besides, orange jumpsuits that look like they were taken from the nearest prison aren’t exactly great hero costumes. And yep again, one of the main pairings are Chell and Rikido. Initially it was simply because I thought it would be funny, but then ideas came to mind that I hope will really make it more meaningful. That being said, Eli is absolutely going to be a main character, and he will be getting a pairing of his own, and it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out. Again, you’ll see why and how next chapter.

Atromitos1526: Glad my explanation for Eli’s quirk went well, and yeah, some quirks in MHA really weren’t fleshed out well. As an example from this chapter, we saw Uraraka use an entire pillar as a bat, yet we never see her do any strength feats like that again. And I’m glad to be nailing down Shota’s grumpy-yet-caring persona.

i_really_should_be_sleeping: Eh, as long as you don’t give him too much power, he should be fine. Kinda like a bumbling intern. And hey, if Jar Jar Binks was able to somehow make his way into government, AND survive the rise of the Empire (yes, that is canon), then Wheatley should be manageable.

Starlight_skywolf: Well get used to it, since here’s another one, hehehe…

StarWanderer's Writing: Man, you just keep coming with these great ideas for crossovers with other Valve games, huh? I probably won’t have it as a class scene, but I do plan to have another reader’s OC show up, a conspiracy theory nut who’s also a Pro Hero, and she’ll be appearing after the Sports Festival during the Internship Arc. I definitely think it would fit right in with her other ramblings that sound bonkers, but to us the readers, we know she’s strangely on point.

ultima-owner: Eli was going to say Soul Key, since it’s the term for the Freed, the people who worship the One Free Man. ‘Course, Eli isn’t aware that the deity he worships/revers is actually his father, but that’s a detail for later on. And not to worry, we will be seeing more of the Vance family later on, especially since they moved to an artificial city of science…

PrimoDegenerato: Mate, that’s so tempting, it honestly is. GLaDOS going from the height of her power, a point we never got to see in the games, to falling right back to being powered by a tuber, with barely any processing power as is. And Chell eating a baked potato in front of her would absolutely be in character for her. I’m not sure if I’ll change the fate of GLaDOS, but if I do that’s a good contender.

grindy_rust_rustbucket (Guest): Believe me, it’ll be worse than that. Not by much, since memories from when I was eight is a special kind of pain, but slightly above it. Not for Chell, mind you, but someone else who hasn’t been introduced yet. And no, this one isn’t an OC. Doubt anyone will guess, but I’m eager to see the attempts.

buckethatandtincup: Glad you’re enjoying.

What_you_did_NOT_need_to_know (Guest): Yep, has to be German, can’t be anything else. Only German engineering is able to stabilise a gravitational singularity (German national anthem starts to play).

Artorigus: I’ll adress it here, but essentially, is My Monster Academia dead? Eh, kinda, but not really. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what to do with it, but I can’t justify it to myself to keep going with it due to my schedule. Since my Portal and Titanfall series are becoming much more popular and I love writing them as much as My Monster, I’ve had to make the decision to abandon it. It won’t happen yet, I can promise I’ll finish the Sports Festival Arc and I know exactly, word for word, how the final chapter will go, but when I get that done I’ll leave it up for adoption. Hell, whoever adopts it can contact me and I’ll forward them my pages upon pages of ideas and lore. Sorry about this, but that’s simply the painful decision I’ve made.

Before I finish up, two things to share; first, the title for next chapter is called, “A Surge of Emotions.” Gonna be a heartfelt chapter, I’ll make sure of it. Secondly, I’ve got some artwork to share with those on Ao3. This is a piece showing what Chell and Vance’s armour is roughly like. It didn’t quite come out as I wanted, but you’ll get the general idea.

Anyway, that’s all from me. See y’all later…

- Jevm

...

...

...okay, so this is Jevm from the next day. The same Jevm who was a dumbass and forgot to actually post the image of the hero costumes. So, um, yeah, my bad. Here it is.

So, uh, yeah, that's all. Sorry about that.

- Jevm

Chapter Text

“...Team B, Shoji and Todoroki, are the Heroes! Team I, Vance and Hagakure, are the villains!” All Might declared, holding out the deciding balls up for the class to see. “Follow me, you four! Each team is assigned their own building, each with its own personal layout! Wouldn’t want any cheating or pre-match planning to go on, now would we?!”

Mezo followed the Symbol of Peace, walking behind his new teammate and his two opponents. Privately, Mezo was glad that he was part of the hero team. While he was sure that U.A. wouldn’t allow any quirk discrimination on campus, years of facing abuse from people over his appearance had made him hesitant to open up to people. But even if some of his classmates turned out to be hard to make friends with, he was sure he could find common ground with his fellow classmates who had mutations.

“Alright, you lot,” All Might grinned at them, standing in front of the doors leading into their building. “As I explained in the Monitor Room, you’re going to need these micro transceivers, a roll of Capture Tape, as well as a map of the building. Go ahead, take one each.”

Each of them stepped forth, with the villains receiving their own unique maps.

“Alright, villains,” All Might continued, “you have five minutes to head on in, find the bomb, make a plan, and set up your defences. Are you ready?!”

“Yes, sir,” nodded Vance, the international student with the glasses. 

Beside him stood his teammate, and even though Mezo couldn't see her, her gloves that were pumping up and down helped to show her excitement.

“Yeah, we've got this!” she cheered before pointing one of her gloves at Mezo and Todoroki. “No hard feelings or anything, but you two are going down!”

“Ha ha ha!” All Might laughed, throwing his head back. “That's what I like to hear! Now, you two, head on in. Let's get this Battle Trial underway!”

The pair walked through the doors, disappearing from view as they rounded a corner.

“Right, now for you heroes,” All Might said, turning to Mezo and his teammate. “Once the five minutes is up, you'll have fifteen minutes to locate the bomb or capture all of the villains. And I do ask that you try to keep the damage to a minimum. Remember, you both will be monitored and graded after this.”

Both Mezo and Todoroki nodded, showing their understanding.

“Very well, good luck to the both of you!” All Might said, breaking into a light jog back to the Monitor Room, leaving the hero duo alone.

Glancing to the side, Mezo observed his teammate’s hero costume. To put it simply, it was split between basic and bizarre. On his right side, it was a plain off-white shirt with matching pants and boots, with two gold-colored straps going over his shoulders which were attached to a similar coloured tactical vest. He wore no helmet or mask on this side, leaving his white hair exposed. His left-hand side, however, was entirely covered in what looked to be ice, leaving only his left hand, boot, mouth and nose exposed. The rest of his face was entirely encased, covering both his red hair and the scarring that covered a large area around his left eye.

‘Well, it’s not like I’m doing anything differently,’ Mezo thought, glancing down at his own costume. His light-blue tank top and baggy trousers were simple yet effective, giving him plenty of room to move while also being his standard sleeveless clothing. He’d swapped his mask as well, replacing it with an indigo-coloured one that matched with the indigo highlights of his costume. But beyond matching the aesthetic, his facemask helped cover his scars as well as hide the elongated face that caused his scars to begin with.

‘I doubt his scars were for the same reason though,’ Mezo sighed. ‘I’m sure most people would view him as attractive even with the scar.’

As the minutes ticked along in his head, Mezo found that his teammate was just as antisocial as he was yesterday, causing the two to wait in silence before they could begin.

“Can you find where they are?” Todoroki calmly asked once All Might began the fight, walking alongside Mezo as they entered the building.

Mezo nodded, stopping where he was and using his quirk to form ears and a few eyes, sifting through the information he was gathering.

“We’ve got one on the north side of the fourth floor,” Mezo relayed through a mouth he formed. “The other’s on the same floor, but they’re barefoot. The invisible one must be trying to ambush us from behind.”

“Get outside. It’s about to get frost in here,” Todoroki ordered, mist trailing into the air from his raised right hand. “Our opponents think they’re playing a defensive game, but that means nothing to me.”

Deciding to not cause an issue with his teammate, Mezo walked back outside the building. As soon as he was clear, he felt a rush of cold on his back, and when he turned around he was stunned to see the entire building rapidly being encased in ice.

‘What a powerful quirk,’ Mezo thought to himself. ‘I wish he’d have let me participate beyond finding them though.’

Leaning against a nearby street light, Mezo continued to monitor the movements of their opponents, or more accurately, lack thereof, as well as his teammate’s relaxed movement.

“Neither target has moved from their position,” Mezo radioed. “Seem’s your attack did the trick.”

“Copy,” was Todoroki’s curt reply.

Mezo continued to monitor, hearing his teammate enter where the weapon would likely be. But rather than hearing the sound of All Might declaring them the winners, Mezo heard the faint sound of a body hitting a wall followed by ice breaking.

“Todoroki Shoto has been captured!”

Mezo’s eyes widened as what should have been an assured victory quickly became much more difficult.

-]l[-

Toru was nervous. Sure, she’d talked a big game earlier, but that was all for show, as a way to hype herself up! She’d seen how powerful her opponents were on the first day, and sure, her teammate seemed pretty strong himself, but that was 2-1! All she could do was be perpetually invisible.

‘No, don’t think like that, Toru,’ she scolded herself. ‘You made a promise to turn your life around, to not take the easy route, and you’re gonna stick to it! Remember, no relapses!’

“Oh wow, this is pretty light,” Vance exclaimed, holding the fake bomb up in the air. “Guess they made it out of sheet metal or something.”

Her teammate’s costume was very orange. Like, it was entirely two colours, and orange was the biggest one. The armour plating that he wore over a black bodysuit was segmented, different plates sitting next to each other, assumedly to give maximum protection with maximum flexibility. The only piece that didn’t seem scale-like was his chestpiece, a solid block of orange armour with some kind of science symbol Toru had seen somewhere in a textbook. His helmet was kinda basic, just being a protective covering with a visor that covered his eyes, and a long black cape trailed down his back.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Toru thought aloud, rapping the side of the bomb with her gloved hand, causing a tang noise. She glanced down at her gloves before an invisible smile stretched across her face as she remembered an age-old way of getting her spirits up; teasing boys.

“I’m going all out, Vance! The gloves and boots are coming off,” Toru chirped. “But no looking, no matter how tempting~”

“Wait, what?” Vance blinked, a vibrant blush quickly spreading across his face as Toru peeled off her gloves and bent over to take off her boots, even though she knew he couldn’t see her.

‘So predictable,’ she snickered in her mind. Boys almost always fell into two camps when she did something like this; either they ogled her, using their own imagination to fill in the gaps, or they blushed and grew flustered from what they knew was there but couldn’t see. And it seemed her international teammate was one of the latter.

“Oh, don’t worry, there’s nothing to look away from,” Toru teased in a sing-song voice. “I mean, I am invisible. Not like you could see me if you wanted to.”

“Um, well, uh,” Vance stammered, very deliberately looking away from her. “I can s-see you.”

Toru blinked in surprise, quickly looking at her arm to check, but nothing was visible, just like always.

“What, you’ve got infrared lens in your visor?” she asked. “You know it won’t reveal much, right? It’s not much different to me wearing a bodysuit, just a lot more yellow and orange.”

“No, um, it’s my quirk, I can, well,” he stammered, still blushing up a storm. “Ah, damn it all. It’s easier if I show you.”

Toru almost yelped when she felt a pulse ripple through her. It didn’t feel bad, kinda like sitting in those massage chairs at the mall, but all over her and all at once. She really did yelp, however, when Vance grabbed her hand.

It took her brain a second to process what happened, but when it finally caught up Toru could feel the heat on her cheeks. HE grabbed her hand. Not the other way round, and not in a groping, uncertain way when people tried to find her. He went straight for it, confidently holding both of her hands in his, and for the first time Toru felt both mortified and aroused in equal measure from the simple action of holding hands. 

‘What am I, some love interest in a manga?’ she thought to herself, only to look up at him as she felt another pulse flow over her, seeing that he kept his eyes fixed directly at hers.

‘Wait wait wait,’ Toru realised, her eyes widening in shock as she realised that he really was looking her dead in the eyes.

“I’m able to use my quirk to send out pulses, kinda like echolocation," he explained. “So, well, I really can see you.”

“Prove it,” Toru desperately ordered, clinging to the faint hope that she’d been given. “Tell me what you see.”

“Well, uh,” Vance stammered, and Toru was amused to see how much he was fighting to keep his eyes on her head. “You’ve got messy hair?”

Toru blanched in shame. The first time someone had been able to see her without the use of a machine and she’d let her hair go unbrushed. It wasn’t as if she’d ever had to, or even style her hair in any way, so she’d always left it loose and wild.

“Oh, sorry,” Toru apologised. “Well, how about you tell me what expression I’m making?”

“Okay, sure,” Vance nodded. Toru thought for a second on what expression to make, but after a lifetime of not having to worry about what expression she made, she found it difficult to decide, so she settled on a simple smile.

“You’re smiling,” Vance immediately answered.

‘Maybe it was a guess,’ Toru reasoned to herself, widening the smile into a toothy grin.

“And now you’re smiling with your teeth,” Vance once again successfully guessed.

‘Okay, one last one,’ Toru thought, making a third and final expression.

“Now you’re, uh, sticking your tongue out? But with an open mouth?”

Toru had actually pulled an ahegao, but close enough.

“So you can’t see my eyes then,” Toru realised.

“Well, I can, but I can’t see your eye movement,” Vance clarified. “I can’t see colour or anything like that, only physical features and their movement.”

‘He can see me,’ Toru beamed, ecstatic that for the first time, someone could actually see it. ‘He can see me and he’s polite. He can see me and he’s polite and he’s cute! Calm down, Toru, don’t be reckless, don’t try and make out with his adorable face, you’ll only scare him off! Play it cool, play it smooth.’

“Do you think I’m cute?!” Toru squeaked.

‘Oh, good job, girl.’

“Uh, well, yeah,” Vance stammered, the blush that had subsided back in full force. “I don’t think anyone would say you weren’t.”

“Good to know,” Toru grinned, shaking their still joined hands up and down. “Nice to meet you, Vance Eli, my name’s Hagakure Toru.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Vance smiled back. “Now, how are we going to defeat these meddling heroes?”

-]l[-

Their plan had been simple; Shoji would probably be able to find them if they moved about, so they decided to split up. While Eli would draw their attention by walking around in the room with the nuclear bomb, Hagakure would stay still in a nearby room, hopefully being too quiet for Shoji to detect her. When the heroes would head to the bomb’s room, Eli would hold them off long enough to focus their attention entirely on him. And when they were distracted, Hagakure would sneak up and use the capture tape to eliminate them.

Eli knew that it would be difficult to hold off the two heroes before Hagakure was able to make her move, but he’d never expected anything like this!

“Ow ow ow,” Eli could hear Hagakure cry out from the hallway. “So cold!”

Neither of them had a chance to react. Ice had immediately spread across every surface, trapping his feet. But even though he could start to feel the cold seeping in, he knew that Hagakure would have it much worse.

“Just hang on, Hagakure,” he whispered as loud as he could. “I’ve got a plan; we can still turn this around.”

“Can you turn it around faster?” she complained. “I can’t feel my feet.”

“You could always try and get out of it,” a cold, arrogant voice called out. “Of course, it’d be hard to fight without the soles of your feet.”

Eli glanced up, noticing Todoroki calmly walking towards him, not paying any attention to Hagakrue behind him.

“You couldn’t even give us the dignity of fighting you?” Eli demanded.

“Why bother?” Todoroki cruelly smirked. “We’re simply in two different leagues.”

Eli watched with disdain as Todoroki leisurely walked forwards, just out of reach of his arms if he stretched them out. However, it was because Todoroki was so confident that he’d won that he didn’t see Eli’s move coming.

Lashing out with his arm, Eli thrust it forward, palm out towards his opponent. In an instant, a blast of force shot out from his hand, the shockwave catching Todoroki off guard, sending him flying to a nearby wall before collapsing on the floor stunned as his head bounced off the wall.

Bending over, Eli used his quirk to shatter the ice around his boots, quickly freeing himself before sliding over to Todoroki in as controlled of a manner as possible.

“It’s as you said,” he remarked, bringing out the capture tape and looping a length of it around Todoroki’s arm, the student too stunned to resist. “We’re simply in two different leagues.”

“Todoroki Shoto has been captured!” All Might announced on the intercoms.

“You did it, Vance!” Hagakure cheered as Eli slowly made his way over to her, the frozen footprints and misting air making it easy for him to see her without having to use his quirk.

“It’s not over yet,” he cautioned, crouching down at her feet. “We’ve still got to defeat Shoji.”

Using careful pulses of his quirk, Eli slowly freed Hagakure’s bare feet from their icy confines.

“Are you alright?” he asked, offering his hand to help keep her standing.

“Um, maybe?” she cautiously guessed. “Let me find my gloves and boots and we can go.”

As it turns out, Todoroki’s ice had frozen over her gloves and boots, encasing them in the floor.

“Oh man,” Hagakure groaned. “I’m really not looking forward to walking over four floors of ice.”

“Then hop on,” Eli offered, crouching down and facing away from her, his hands held out behind his back. “I can carry you down till we’re outside.”

“Oh, sure,” Hagakure agreed surprisingly easily. Eli tried his best to control himself when he felt her legs wrap around his waist, her arms loop around his neck, and her chest squish against his back.

‘Come on, Eli, don’t be a perv,’ he scolded himself. ‘She’s probably not even into you, just unused to someone being able to see her.’

“Okay, I’m ready,” Hagakure said, her chin resting against his armoured shoulder.

“R-Right,” Eli stammered as he carefully got to his feet, his hand carefully grabbing Hagakure’s thighs to keep her in place.

“You can go higher if you want,” she whispered, in what Eli was assuming was embarrassment.

“N-No, i-it’s fine,” he blushed. “I can manage.”

“Oh, okay.”

‘Is she disappointed?’ Eli gaped in his mind as he slowly made his way down the building. ‘No, don’t be ridiculous, I’m just grasping at straws.’

Taking extra caution on his way down thanks to the now melting ice that covered every surface of the building, Eli and Hagakure eventually made it to the ground floor, so far having gone unobstructed. The area near the staircase was a wide, open area, with corridors creating breaks in the walls and windows along the edge allowing in light.

“Okay, I’ll let you down now,” Eli said, lowering himself into a crouch to let Hagakure off. “We haven’t seen Shoji so far, so he’s either somewhere on this floor or he’s waiting outside for us.”

“Do you think he could’ve snuck inside and hid in one of the higher levels before waiting for us to pass him, allowing him to get to the bomb?” Hagakure suggested.

“Hmm, that’s not a bad idea,” Eli mused. “But I don’t think he’s done that. I’m sure we would have seen some trace of him passing by; a guy as big as him couldn’t have walked over the ice without leaving footprints.”

“So we search the floor then,” Hagakure eagerly stated. “Do we wanna split up or is that too cliche of villains?”

“I don’t know. It’s not inherently a bad idea,” Eli admitted. “We have radios so we can stay in touch, so the only thing we’d have to worry about is how long we’d be fighting him alone before the other arrives. What I’m really worried about is that he can probably hear us, so he might have gotten the idea to try and make a break for the weapon.”

“Oh,” Hagakure muttered, lowering her voice to a whisper. “Think he could hear this?”

“Probably,” Eli grimaced, making no effort to be quiet. “Todoroki didn’t hesitate when it came to finding where the bomb was, so we were probably right on him being able to hear where I was at least. If he can find where I am on the fourth floor, he’d probably be able to hear us when we’re on the ground floor.”

“So what do we do?!”

“We be honest.”

There was silence for a moment before a confused “Huh?” came from Hagakure.

“How about it, Shoji?!” Eli called out. “No tricks or anything fancy; just you versus us.”

Eli held his breath, wondering if his gambit would pay off, only to sigh in relief when the sound of approaching footsteps could be heard. Shoji walked out of a corridor, though he didn’t move far from it, and a mouth formed on the end of one of his stumps.

“This doesn’t exactly seem fair to me,” he admitted. “There are two of you and only one of me.”

“Oh, what’s the matter, hero?” Hagakure mocked in a suitably villainous voice. “Are you scared now that your partner went and got himself captured?”

Even with his mask on, Eli was still able to see Shoji wince. “I honestly wasn’t expecting that to happen.”

“His overconfidence was his downfall,” Eli admitted, not even needing a villain persona to voice it. “And besides, we’ve got four arms between us, while you’ve got six. Seems you’ve got the strength advantage over us.”

“That is true,” Shoji admitted. “And as a hero, I must overcome the odds, no matter how many villains stand in my way.”

“Then try and get past us, hero,” Eli grinned, easily falling into the roll. Placing his palm on one of his shoulder pieces, Eli detached it, holding it slightly above his hand with the use of his quirk, the plate of armour pointed at Shoji. “Let’s see if you’re all talk.”

With a tense of his hand, the plate fired towards his opponent, and though Shoji caught it, he was taken aback by the sheer force of the impact. But Eli wasn’t done, using both of his hands to take pieces of his armour off before firing them at Shoji. This was the true brilliance of his hero costume, one that gave him ammunition for his quirk to utilise, at the cost of his defences.

Shoji however was showing that he was no slouch either. Despite the force that Eli was applying onto his projectiles, Shoji was able to catch each of them before flinging them right back at Eli, slowly advancing as he did so. This forced Eli to focus on capturing his returned armour pieces rather than firing off new ones, as both fighters knew a single slipup could spell the end of their standoff. And the standoff would remain if neither person made a move.

And the person to do so was Shoji. Rather than returning fire, the next few projectiles Shoji caught were flung to the side, rushing for Eli.

Being torn between firing or defending, Eli made the snap decision to lash out with his palms, powerful bursts of kinetic energy being shot out, knocking back the many fists that Shoji had formed. What had been a dangerous game of catch quickly became a dangerous game of Patty Cake, if Japan had something similar to the Western children’s game. Each blow that Shoji tried to land was blown away by Eli, but since he had six fists all trying to hit him, Eli had to entirely focus on defence, with no time given for him to retaliate. Shoji’s flurry of blows increased in speed, forcing Eli to backpeddle simply to maintain space, but he knew he was running out of room. But even though the cramps that were starting to form in his hands told him he wouldn’t be able to last longer than a minute, Eli wasn’t worried.

‘That’s it,’ he thought to himself. ‘Focus entirely on me, don’t worry about my teammate. Even though I may be more dangerous, it’s the sneakier villains who get the most done!’

After all, Shoji had made one crucial mistake; villains don’t fight fair, and Eli wasn’t the only villain in the room.

“Gotcha!” Hagakure cheered, the loop of capture tape hidden within her fist looping around Shoji’s legs, capturing him.

“Shoji Mezo is eliminated, and with that, the villains win through capture!” All Might declared.

“Phew,” Eli sagged, his back sliding down the wall he had been forced against. “Man, that was close.”

“That was a cunning move,” Shoji praised. “Forcing me to focus on you while Hagakure snuck behind me. Even though it put you in a dangerous position, making me only form fists to assail you meant I wasn’t able to sense Hagakure.”

“Yeah, sorry for taking so long to figure out the plan,” Hagakure apologised from nearby.

“It’s fine, since it all worked out in the end,” Eli smiled. “I guess we should also get To-”

Eli’s voice trailed off as he saw Todoroki having come down the stairs. Eli opened his mouth to speak to the two-toned teen, but the furious, angry expression within his eyes caused Eli to hold his tongue.

“What’s his problem?” Hagakure asked, grabbing hold of his hands. Almost instinctually, Eli started small, rapid pulses, creating the vague outline of Hagakure in his mind’s eye.

“Maybe he’s just anti-social?” Eli suggested, turning to face Shoji. “Do you have any idea?”

“No, we barely talked,” the six arm student answered. “We’d best head back anyway; All Might will want to give his thoughts on the test.”

-]l[-

“Well well, that certainly was an exciting match to watch!” All Might beamed his signature grin. “And I think it goes without saying that both young Vance and young Hagakure are our V.I.P.s for this round!”

And that fact burned Shoto more than anything; he’d lost, and it wasn’t even close. All his life, he’d been at the top, even securing first place in U.A.’s Entrance Exams for students in the Recommendation cohort. He’d managed to do this with his mother’s quirk, her blessed ice, and completely rejecting his father’s accursed flames. Even his hero costume was meant to reflect that, with his left side, the side that had his father’s eyes, his father’s hair, and worst of all his father’s quirk, being completely encased in ice. 

But somehow, he’d lost without even being able to put up a fight against that damn gaijin.

“Young Vance was able to keep a cool head when he found himself immobilised by young Todoroki’s ice, and smartly bided his time until he had a chance to strike back!” All Might continued. “He also was quick to assist his teammate, even helping to carry her down the stairs since she’d lost her boots!”

The gaijin appeared to humbly accept the praise, as if he hadn’t humiliated Shoto in front of everyone.

“Meanwhile, young Hagakure was pivotal in ending the fight, capturing young Shoji while he was distracted with his fight with young Vance!” All Might explained, turning to face the invisible girl who was wrapped in her teammate’s cape. “Remember class, being an effective hero means that sometimes you have to give up the spotlight! After all, sometimes it’ll be more effective to draw the attention of villains and allow someone else to defeat them than to take on that task yourself. Managing these duties with other nearby heroes will be crucial for you all in the future, so be sure to keep this in mind!”

‘What a joke,’ Shoto scoffed in his mind. ‘You only have to do so if you’re weak. What a hypocrite.’

“Young Shoji, while you did step up to try and stop the villains despite being outnumbered, you should have been more confident about yourself,” All Might continued, turning to face Shoto and his teammate. “Young Vance had a good idea on what you could have done, sneaking inside before waiting to see if the villains would pass you by, allowing you to reach the weapon unimpeded.”

“My apologies, All Might,” the mutant student bowed his head. “I’ll keep that in mind for the future.”

“And be sure to not allow yourself to develop tunnel vision,” All Might cautioned before turning to face Shoto. “As for you, young Todoroki, while that was an impressive display of your quirk, your mistake was allowing overconfidence to get the better of you. While the villains did seem to be securely restrained, you should always be cautious in case they have a trick up their sleeve, like you saw with young Vance, or there might have been someone you didn’t know about who was lurking behind a corner.”

“There were only two of them,” Shoto pointed out in a flat voice, his irritation only showing through his narrowed eyes.

“Yes, but there might always be more villains than expected!” All Might grinned. “Maybe I had lied to you and young Shoji about how many villains you’d be facing. If that was the case, you’d be in a right pickle, wouldn’t you?”

“I’d deal with them.”

“Like you dealt with young Vance’s surprise attack?”

Shoto didn’t have a good answer for that, deciding to simply glare at the ground, imagining his father’s face there.

“Remember, my young students, these classes are designed to prepare you for the real world!” All Might advised, turning to face the rest of the class. “While it’s true there weren’t any surprises this time, that won’t always be the case, and it certainly won’t be the case in the real world. Always expect something to go wrong with any plan, always anticipate that there may be more villains than expected, and always be prepared to change the plan if the situation calls for it. No plan perfectly survives first contact with a villain, well, unless you’re Principal Nezu, but he’s a different story.”

The class gave a variety of acknowledgements to their teacher’s words.

“Very good!” All Might grinned, reaching into the hero and villain boxes. “Now then, for our third match, we have…”

Yeah, so addressing it now, THIS is how Vance is one of the main characters; just like how we have the Deku squad (Izuku, Ochako and Tenya) as well as the Bakugo squad (Katsuki, Eijiro and Mina), this is the Yamada squad, since Chell is the defacto main character of the series, which consists of Chell, Rikido, Toru and Eli. And yeah, Toru is very much NOT a shonen female protagonist who takes many seasons to admit she has feelings, and even longer to act on them (looking at you, Ochako.) Toru knows what she likes, she knows how rare of a chance this is for her, so she’s going all in, baby! Everything on orange! And poor Eli thinks she’s just being friendly.

Eli: She just wants to be friends.

Toru: Make out with me already! 

I’ve also made some liberal headcanon changes to Toru’s past, since we know diddly squat about it. I’ve dripped in a few hints here and there in previous chapters as well as this one, but we’ll get the whole story during the Sports Festival, since that seems to be a common place for tragic backstories to be revealed, as well as thematically fitting for a character to spill their guts when they or someone they care for loses a pivotal match against a classmate. And yes, the Sports Festival is planned, and I know who is fighting who; changes will happen, obviously, but the entirety of the Yamada squad will at least make it into the first round of the singles brackets.

Now, some people might think that Shoto is needlessly racist with his internal comments. I’d like to point out that the Todoroki residence is VERY traditional in terms of appearance and layout. Shoto even mentions when Class 1-A first moves into their dorms that he’s used to sleeping on tatami flooring with a futon. Add in the fact that All Might is very American (almost all of his costumes are based off the U.S. flag, all of his moves are based off the States in canon, AND he started his hero career there), and that Endeavor, at this point in time, hates his guts, this might have been passed on to Shoto, since he is much more like his father initially than he’d like to admit. Hell, that’s the reason that Yoarashi rejected his offer from U.A.

Review time!

Atromitos1526: Yep, with Chell flinging Eijiro with her strength, pair it with portals getting him to terminal velocity, Eijiro can become a Rod from God (it’s a real weapon, look it up). And I’m glad you enjoyed the chapter, even if it was a bit of a retelling.

TheGigaGamer75: Oh yeah, the power of angles is going to be on display! I have this head canon that, since canonically Chell passed all of the tests without getting hurt (since she can’t heal from being filled with lead with only a sliver of health like you can in game), she would have a very intuitive understanding of angles and such from all of the tests she’s done. She can’t explain it for shit, so academically she’s near the bottom of the class, but in practice she’s the best with that.

StarWanderer's Writing: Well, you’ll just have to wait and see, hehehe. And yes, Eli’s costume is vaguely based on his father’s old H.E.V. suit, not that he knows it. The artwork I commissioned didn’t fully capture it, but as mentioned, the armour is kind of a scalemail, with various pieces that can be taken off and used as projectiles.

ultima-owner: Okay, I haven’t really dived deeply into the actual faith of the Freed yet, though that will be coming later, but the Freed view Gordon, The One Free Man, as their messianic figure, kinda like Jesus but without the divinity. They also revere him as the first human to have a quirk, since the information has been distorted over the passage of time to equate the gravity gun with Gordon’s own powers. They are also waiting for The One Free Man to return to usher humanity and the Vortigaunts into a new golden age, one free from the Combine and Nihilanth. But even still, Eli finding out his father is the being he reveres is going to be a shock, and I can’t wait.

Dark_Magistrate: Yep, Eli really went all orange with it. I’d rationalise it as The One Free Man being associated with the Lambda symbol as well as his orange suit of armour. As for Chell, yeah, I guess she does. I feel if someone pointed that out she’d be incredibly proud of that idea.

Okay, and that’s all the reviews. As per usual, the next chapter is titled “Impact!”. Eijiro is going to join the Yeet Fleet.

See y’all then…

- Jevm

Chapter Text

“...Team H, Asui and Tokoyami, are the heroes! Team J, Kirishima and Yamada, are the villains!”

“Aw man!” Eijiro cried out, clutching his head. “I’m a villain! So not manly!”

“Hey, don't sweat it,” Ashido reassured him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Half of us had to be villains anyway, so it doesn't say anything bad about you, it's simply the luck of the draw.”

“Young Ashido is exactly right!” All Might beamed, looking their way. “Even if your team is chosen to be the villains in this exercise, you can still learn something from it. After all, the V.I.P.s so far have all been from the villains team!”

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense,” Eijiro admitted, looking down at the ground. “Even though it feels wrong, I’ll do my best to make the most of the experience.”

“That’s all I can ask for,” All Might smiled as he walked out of the Monitor Room. “Alright, you four, with me. Let me show you which building you’ll be fighting in!”

As Eijiro followed the pinnacle of manliness, he took a look at his teammate and opponents. He already knew who his teammate was, they had locked eyes as soon as their team was formed. Eijiro didn’t know much about her, other than her name was Yamada Chell, she was the daughter of their English teacher and niece of their homeroom teacher, she’d already made a small friend group apparently, and she could make portals. 

Her hero costume also looked really futuristic, with glowing lines and sleek white armour on a black bodysuit, making her look straight out of a movie, and a helmet, currently held under her arm, with a solid black visor that covered her entire face. It definitely wasn’t Eijiro’s style, but he could see the appeal.

On the other hand were their opponents, Asui and Tokoyami. From what Asui had told them, her Frog quirk gave her the excellent jumping abilities that he saw yesterday in Mr. Aizawa’s Quirk Fitness Test, and apparently a frog-like tongue. Whether or not she had other frog abilities she hadn’t mentioned was up in the air.

Her hero costume was a bright green turtleneck bodysuit, tan-coloured gloves and two matching belts, one above her chest with a strap at either side going around her shoulders and one around her waist. On her feet she wore green webbed flippers resembling frogs' toes, and on her head were goggles with dark green-tinted lenses and a thin dark green mask that went along the middle of her face.

As for her teammate, Tokoyami, while all Eijiro had been told earlier was that his opponent had the ability to create a shadow monster out of his body, he felt there was more to it. When their tests had been outdoors, the creature looked really weak and frail, but when they had their strength grip test in the gymnasium it seemed thicker and stronger.

His hero costume was also very simple, consisting of a black robe covering his entire body, only stopping halfway down his shins, and knee-high black boots.

‘Even if his costume is basic, he has such an edgy yet manly name,’ Eijiro admitted.

“Alright, here we are!” All Might declared, stopping in front of their battle ground. “As you all know, you’ll each receive one micro transceiver, one roll of Capture Tape, and your map.”

Eijiro stepped forward alongside the other students, grabbing his allocated supplies, slipping the micro transceiver into his ear while keeping hold of the capture tape and map.

“Alright villains, head on in and prepare your defences,” All Might said, gesturing to the doors. “Remember, you only have five minutes before the heroes arrive to try and stop you.”

“Understood, All Might,” Eijiro nodded, walking through the door and holding it open for his teammate.

“Thanks,” Yamada nodded as she walked past him, Kirishima quickly following after her.

“So, do you have a plan on what we should do?” Kirishima asked as he walked next to her. 

“Look around us; what do you see?”

Kirishima frowned in confusion as he glanced at the corridor that they had been walking through. “Uh, I don’t know, it’s kinda gloomy?”

“It’s worse than that,” Yamada corrected, stopping in a portion of the corridor where a light shone right above them. She laid their map out on the ground, showing the layout of the entire building. “The entire building is gloomy.”

The map showed that unlike the other buildings so far, this one had only a single corridor that ran from the ground floor all the way to the exposed roof. Rooms lined either side of the corridors with markings for windows, but none could be seen in the corridor itself, not even near the stairwell.

Pieces began to click together in Kirishima’s head. He’d never claim to be the smartest guy, his preferred method of fighting was going straight at them, but even he could see the problem.

“Crap,” he scowled. “Tokoyami’s quirk is perfectly suited for this.”

“Yep,” Yamada sighed, popping the P. “If I’m right and his quirk becomes weaker when exposed to sunlight, then he’s going to be incredibly powerful right from the moment he steps through those doors.”

“So we jump them at the entrance?” Kirishima asked. “Stop them from entering the building all together?”

“Too risky. The bomb’s located on the second floor, so if one of them manages to get in, then we don’t have long to stop them.”

“So what do we do?”

Yamada looked at him with a sly grin.

“Simple, my fellow villain; we divide and conquer.”

-]l[-

“And, start!” All Might declared, signalling the start of the third match. Chell watched Tokoyami and Asui walk through the front door, but they didn’t see her. After all, if there was one thing that Chell had learnt growing up on the streets, it's that humans seldom look up.

Their plan was simple; divide and conquer. Chell had created a portal connecting the ceiling of the entrance foyer and a wall on the open roof. She hung between these two places, her hands and feet braced against the portal edge; from where Kirishima stood, she knew she’d look like she was leaning in a doorway in the wall. But if the heroes of this exercise looked up, they’d see Chell stuck to the ceiling, waiting like a jungle cat about to pounce.

Chell timed her moment, waiting until Tokoyami was right beneath her before pulling her arms and legs in, hurtling towards the ground. She didn’t let loose a warcry or a challenging bellow, but simply fell in silence, her enhanced mind allowing her perception of time to slow to a crawl, giving her a window of opportunity to replace the portal on the ceiling with a portal beneath Tokoyami’s feet.

“Bye, Asui,” Chell called out as she fell past the frightened girl, the portal closing just as Chell saw the frog girl opening her mouth to shoot out her tongue. Chell emerged from the portal, going from the dim indoors to the bright open rooftop in an instant, her implants absorbing the shock of the fall, not that they were needed for such a short fall.

“Wha-” Tokoyami gasped, laying sprawled on the ground as he emerged from the portal feet first, having fallen onto his back. His words were cut off as he took in his new surroundings, eyes going wide as Chell and Kirishima loomed over him.

“Sorry, hero,” Kirishima grinned, slamming his hardened fists together. “We can’t let you stop us.”

“You would use such a cowardly attack?” Tokoyami asked, slowly getting to his feet, dusting himself off. “Truely there is no depths you villains will not fall to.”

“Can you eat honour?” Chell asked, not entirely playing a role like the others were. “Will fairness keep you warm at night? No, they won’t. So keep your morals, hero; be honoured that we thought you such a threat as to neutralise you so early.”

“So be it,” Tokoyami darkly muttered. “Dark Shadow! Come forth!”

“You got it, boss!” the shadow monster replied, bursting out of Tokoyami’s chest, its clawed arms held defensively in front of it. And with that, the battle began.

Kirishima was the first to move, dashing forward towards Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, his fist drawn back as he let out a roar. Dark Shadow moved to intercept, one of its clawed fists slamming into Kirishima’s hardened mitt. Chell took the opportunity presented to her to fire off two new portals, one on the wall she and Tokoyami had emerged from, the other in front of her. She stepped through, letting gravity drag her through the portal to emerge feetfirst behind Tokoyami. Unfortunately, however, the implants in her knees made her landing easily noticeable.

Tokoyami’s head snapped around, his eyes narrowing as he lowered his body, knees bending and ready. Chell lashed out with a roundhouse kick, her flexible body molded from years of surviving on the streets and honed by GLaDOS’ tests allowing her to swing her leg up to her opponents head. Tokoyami ducked and backed away, using his nimble body to remain one step ahead of her. Chell leaned back on one leg while firing the other out in a straight kick aimed for his gut, but Tokoyami leaned out of the way, narrowly avoiding the follow up sweep that Chell responded with. Attack after attack with her legs were avoided, the two dancing around the rooftop while Kirishima battled with Dark Shadow at Tokoyami’s back, but this was okay; after all, Chell merely needed to herd him.

“Fumikage, look out!” Dark Shadow called out from behind the crow-headed student, the quirk’s cry of alarm too late as Tokoyami found his back bumping against Kirishima’s chest.

“Got you now!” he grinned with sharp teeth, his hardened arms and chest wrapping around Tokoyami and Dark Shadow both, pinning their arms to their sides as he wrestled with their combined strength. Both student and his quirk thrashed against Kirishima’s grapple, Tokoyami’s legs lashing out in a desperate attempt to keep Chell and her role of capture tape away, but it proved fruitless when she grabbed one of his legs, wrapping a length of capture tape around it.

“Tokoyami has been captured!” All Might declared. With his announcement of elimination from the battle, Tokoyami’s efforts of escape ceased, Dark Shadow returning to him.

“That was a well-fought battle,” he admitted, getting back onto his own two feet when Kirishima let him go. “You both did well with herding and trapping me.”

“Yeah, that was a great plan you came up with, Yamada!” Kirishima grinned, proudly holding out a thumbs up to her.

“It wouldn’t have worked if you weren’t able to keep Dark Shadow’s attention as easily as you did,” Chell replied, a small, unseen smile underneath her helmet. “Now come on, we still have one last hero to take out.”

Rather than going down the stairwell like Kirishima clearly expected, Chell ran to the edge of the rooftop before leaping down into the alleyway feet first. She held her right arm out, watching the floors shoot past her before she fell past the second floor. An orange opening formed on a wall perpendicular to the windows, the streak of orange light that shot out from her gloved hands passing through a smashed window, made specifically for this moment. Another portal formed on the ground beneath her, allowing Chell to rocket into the room that housed the ‘bomb’, just in time to stop Asui’s tongue from touching the weapon, her feet kicking the tongue aside.

“Not so fast, hero,” Chell growled, moving her body to block as much of her opponent’s access to the weapon. “Did you really think we didn’t plan for you to rush here?”

“Not really,” Asui bluntly admitted, her tongue firing out again. Chell’s hand lashed out, gripping the slimy appendage, only to let out an involuntary yelp as Asui swung her head, the surprisingly powerful tongue throwing her aside. A momentary back and forth broke out between the two of them, Asui trying to reel her tongue back in while Chell dug in her heels, a stalemate that was broken by the yells of Kirishima coming through the portal. He shot out through the opening head first, barely missing Asui as she ducked to the floor, splayed out like a frog.

Chell quickly let go of Asui’s tongue, her hands pointing in different directions; one hand created an orange portal on the far wall Kirishima was about to slam head first into, while the other formed a blue portal on the ceiling right above Asui. Kirishima’s yell of fear quickly turned into one of confusion, and was swiftly joined by a “Geh!” from Asui as Kirishima flattened her on the ground, making her fittingly look like a squished frog. 

“Ow,” she groaned, prompting Kirishima to roll off her, frantically trying to see if she was okay.

“Bind her first, Kirishima,” Chell told him, advice that was ignored as the redhead was too engrossed in making sure Asui was alright to hear her. “Hey, Kirishima!”

But the moment Kirishima looked away from Asui was when she struck. Chell saw in slow motion Asui’s mouth opening and her long tongue shooting out, right at the weapon. Chell dove to intercept the tongue, only to catch air as Asui reeled it back in before shooting it out again. And this time, Chell wasn’t able to catch it.

“And the heroes are the winners!” All Might declared. “Well done, everyone. Please report back to the Monitor Room!”

“Fuck!” Chell swore, slamming her fist into the floor, creating cracks around the crater in the concrete.

“Aw man,” Kirishima sighed, offering his hand to help Asui up. “That was a really sneaky move. Was the whole ‘being in pain’ thing an act?”

“No, that did really hurt,” Asui admitted, gingerly getting to her feet. “But I knew that it was mine and Tokoyami’s last chance at victory. Chell almost stopped it a third time anyway. No hard feelings, right?”

“Nah, that was awesome!” Kirishima grinned, his downcast mood from losing quickly evaporating. “It was a really close match, so that’s manly in my books!”

“It was a smart move,” Chell reluctantly confessed, the sting from losing still there. “One I won’t fall for again.”

“We’ll see,” Asui said in a noncommittal tone, walking out through the door. “But it was a good idea to separate Tokoyami and I. Well played.”

“Sure,” Chell grumbled, pressing a latch on her helmet to loosen it, allowing her to remove the headgear and wipe away the sweat that had gathered on her brow. “Doubt it’ll be us villains who’re the V.I.P.s.”

And as it turned out, that was exactly right.

“Me, sir?” Asui croaked, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

“That’s right!” All Might beamed. “Now, can anyone tell me why young Asui was this match's V.I.P.?”

“Because she kept the objective in mind,” Ida said, and as much as it burned Chell to agree with him, she knew he was right. “When Tokoyami was separated from her thanks to Yamada’s quirk, Asui kept going, checking each room until she found the one with the weapon. If it weren’t for Yamada arriving at that exact moment, Asui would have won earlier than she did.”

“Exactly right!” All Might laughed, grinning proudly at the green-haired girl. “You truly embodied the traits of a hero, young Asui. Rather than panicking, you kept pressing onward. Even when all hope seemed lost thanks to our villains defeating you, you were able to bait out young Yamada’s reaction by making a feint, allowing your real attack against the weapon to connect. By powering through the pain, you truly went Plus Ultra!”

“Thank you, sir,” Asui nodded, a small smile on her face.

“Now, this isn’t to say the rest of you didn’t do good work as well,” All Might continued, his gaze now focusing on the Chell and the others. “Young Tokoyami, when you were separated from your team, you did as much as you could to buy Asui time to get to the weapon. Even when young Kirishima had managed to grab you, you kept fighting to the end. Well done, my boy!”

“Your praise honours me, All Might,” Tokoyami bowed.

“Young Yamada, your plan was excellently planned and executed! You not only had a plan to separate the heroes, making them easier to defeat quickly, but you also had a plan to get to the weapon as fast as possible! If it weren’t for that quick thinking, you and young Kirishima would have lost the match without a chance to fight back!”

“Yes, sir,” Chell nodded.

“And finally, young Kirishima. You, my boy, displayed one of the most important traits a hero can have, even though you were playing the role of a villain; trust. You went along with young Yamada’s plan, made sure young Tokoyami’s quirk’s attention was solely on you, and you trusted young Yamada enough to leap over the edge after her. If it weren’t for that display of trust, your loss might not have been as close as it was.”

“Thank you, All Might sir!” Kirishima bowed, a proud grin stuck to his face.

“Overall, well done, everyone, heroes and villains alike!” All Might laughed. “You really gave us a key example of what teamwork can look like, both in having each other’s backs as well as trusting your partner will get the job done! Now, let’s see who's our next pair of competitors!”

A very short chapter, one of my shortest in recent memory at just under 3K words, but there really wasn’t much else to add. Apologies for this, but I felt I needed to get a chapter out, and with my last three assessments for my degree being due this week, I didn’t think there would be any more time to do it. So sorry about that, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless.

I made a slight change with some of the dialogue. The original plan was for Yamada and Kirishima to realise the weakness of Dark Shadow. Instead, I decided to make them make an incorrect assumption that fortunately turned out to be true; Dark Shadow isn’t weakened by sunlight, but by light in general. So while they worked on false information, it all worked out in the end. Thought it would be more realistic if they made an incorrect but understandable assumption. This battle was also curiously enough the first one where a hero was the V.I.P., which I thought was neat.

Yeah, not much else to add, so review time!

StarWanderer's Writing: Assuming you meant to say now rather than not, then yes, Shoto is going to have an issue with Eli for a bit, and Toru is absolutely going to start staking her claim.

TheGigaGamer75: Oh, don’t worry, Eli, unlike Izuku, is able to somewhat relate. Not entirely, mind you, Gordon and Alyx are both very loving parents, but life for Eli hasn’t been entirely peachy. But I can confirm Eli and Shoto will fight at some point. And damn, that’s actually a great nickname for Eli.

Starlight_skywolf: Yeah, Chell knows what it’s like to be betrayed even before the whole Aperture situation. As for Ratman, to be honest I haven’t put much thought into it. At the end of the Lab Rat comics he puts himself into the Relaxation Vault, and since this material comes after Valve said he was dead, I’ll prioritise this. However, is he still alive? No, ‘fraid not. The reason why will be shown, but he’s been dead for a bit.

ultima-owner: Glad you think so, I hope to keep it that way as I first establish and then build their relationship.

Atromitos1526: Fuck, another typo that slipped through. Thanks for pointing it out, I actually rushed to my computer when I saw that to correct it on both sites so thanks for the heads up. And I’m glad Eli seems to naturally fit with the canon characters, since you’ll be seeing a lot more of him going forward.

grindy_rust_rustbucket (Guest): Yep, pretty much. She’ll be beating the ladies off him if any try with her man (and no, Eli doesn’t have much of a say over that, not that he’d object to it)

mariic: Woohoo, I did it! Rushed to check out the Portal TvTropes page and sure enough, got an article there. A small correction is that Chell was hucked into the future, not into a different world. Small detail, and that’s all that needed correcting. 

On that note, I’m making a retcon here; Chell, Gordon and Alyx weren’t sent 200 years into the future, but 100. All For One is thought to be about 120, but I only confirmed this after I wrote those segments. I might go back and change them, but if not, this is your heads up why there is the change in the timeline. Of course, this also means that Rikido’s family line is squished, since there’s only been about 130-140 years of quirks being a thing, due to All For One’s mother having a quirk that was kept hidden. So yeah, there’s that. As for your sneak peek next chapter, the title will be “Punk Heroes VS Conflicting Villains”. Only two more battles to go.

See y’all then…

- Jevm

Chapter Text

“Ah, here we are!” All Might declared, pulling his hands out of the hero and villain boxes. “The heroes for this round are going to be Team G, Kaminari and Jiro. Their opponents are going to be Team C, Yaoyorozu and Mineta.”

“Yes!” Denki cheered to himself, pumping his fist by his chest. He’d been holding out hope that he’d get to play the role of a hero, and his prayers had been answered. After all, girls loved the dashing hero, and here was where he’d start. 

As the electric teen followed behind All Might, he drifted over to his teammate, Jiro.

“Hey,” he whispered to her, causing her gaze to shift to him, looking from the corner of her eyes.

“We’ve got this,” he grinned, holding up his hand for a fistbump.

She rolled her eyes with a huff, but Denki’s grin widened when she tapped her fist against his. 

‘Let’s go!’ Denki cheered in his head. ‘Maybe I have a chance with her! No, stay cool, Denki, just keep your options open for now. Even if she has a cool hero costume.’

Now that he thought about it, both of their costumes were rather similar. Denki’s was just a plain white shirt, an open black jacket with a white lightning pattern across it, as well as matching black pants. The only thing that he wore that made it look like a hero costume was the communicator he wore over his right ear.

Jiro’s on the other hand was a black leather jacket, a pink shirt with rips at the top and bottom, black pants, and odd looking boots. Glancing upwards, Denki took note of the earphone jacks that grew from her earlobes, and looking back down at his teammate’s boots, he started to see the stereos that seemed to be built in.

‘She really has a basic hero costume,’ Denki thought as the group walked to their building. ‘All I asked from the support company for my costume was the basic design, as well as clothing that would be resistant to my electricity. I wonder who her costume designers were?’

“Alright, you four, here we are!” All Might declared, stopping in front of their building. “You all know the drill by now; take your micro transceivers, Capture Tape, and map. Villains, you have five minutes to prepare once you go through those doors.”

“Understood, All Might,” Yaoyorozu said, bowing at the waist to their teacher.

‘Holy crap is she beautiful,’ Denki gushed, taking in her appearance. While he had seen her beauty the day before at Mr. Aizawa’s Quirk Fitness Test, the costume she wore made her go from a 10/10 to an 11/10. She wore a high-collared, sleeveless crimson leotard with silver lines at her waist and around her arms, which opened to expose her skin from her neck to just below her navel. She wore red boots and a gold utility belt, and at the back rested a collection of books.

‘I don’t know who approved of her hero costume, but whoever it was I want to give them a hug if they’re a dude or a kiss if they’re a chick! Thank you, skimpy hero costumes!’ Denki cried out in his mind.

And it seemed like he wasn’t the only one admiring her. Unbeknownst to All Might, Yaoyorozu and Jiro, Yaoyorozu’s teammate, Mineta, was openly gazing at his partner’s shapely rear. This lasted only for a moment before he quickly looked away, his gazing crossing with Denki’s as the two locked eyes.

His costume was rather simplistic, though in a different manner to Denki’s or Jiro’s. It consisted of a purple shirt and mask, with a yellow cape, boots, and gloves. The oddest feature of his costume were his pants, which were white with a lighter purple trim, and stuck out quite a lot around his waist. 

Mineta’s face paled as sweat beaded on his face, but Denki only gave him a wink and a thumbs up, showing his own appreciation.

‘That guy seems fun to hang around with,’ Denki thought, watching as the two ‘villains’ walked into the building to prepare. ‘I should catch up with him later, see if we have similar interests beyond liking cute girls.’

“Okay, my intrepid heroes,” All Might smiled at them, “is there anything that you need clarified before I return to the rest of your classmates?”

“Nah, everything seems clear to me,” Denki shrugged. “Get in, try and capture the weapon, capture the villains, whichever is easier. Seems pretty simple.”

“We’ll be fine, All Might,” Jiro confirmed, fiddling with one of her earphone jack earlobes.

“Very well!” All Might said. “Then I wish you the best of luck. As you saw in the previous fight, what can be a surefire victory can quickly turn into defeat. Just remember to not get too confident, and you’ll both be fine.”

““Yes sir,”” Denki and Jiro nodded, watching as their teacher dashed away.

“So, uh, Jiro, right?” Denki began, giving his teammate what he thought was his most charming smile to hide his nervousness. “Your quirk’s called Earphone Jack, right?”

“Wow, you remembered?” she sarcastically replied, rolling her eyes at him. “But yeah. My mum has the same quirk, so it helped to have someone who already knew what my quirk could do growing up.”

“Well, you made it into the Hero Course, so they’ve got to be a wicked quirk, right?”

“Oh, well, it isn’t all that great,” Jiro deflected, looking away with a light blush on her cheeks. “My earphone jacks are pretty durable, since they’re able to stab into metal and concrete and crap, but where they really shine is picking up faint noises. I can also plug them into something and project my heartbeat through it.”

“Oh, is that why you have a pair of speakers on your boots?” Denki asked, trying his best to ignore how she looked when she blushed. ‘Keep it cool, Denki, keep it cool.’

“Yeah, they allow me to amplify and direct the noise,” Jiro explained, her expression and voice becoming more animated as she explained. “See, without them I need to jam my jacks into someone’s ear for them to actually do anything, so I’m really lucky to have come up with a work around. And your quirk’s called Electrified?”

“Electrification, but close,” Denki nodded. “It’s pretty simple, allowing me to store electricity and discharge it, and the best part is that I’m never harmed by it.”

“But you can’t control it very well, right? I think you mentioned something like that in Homeroom.” Jiro asked, causing Denki to wince, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

“Pretty much,” he winced. “See, I can’t control it well, so it kind of goes everywhere if I try to shoot it out. I can electrify my body and keep it contained, but then I’d need to touch our opponents to do anything.”

“So I’m the long range fighter then,” Jiro summarised. “Do you at least know any martial arts that you could use along with your electrification?” 

“No, sorry.”

“Fine, we’ll just have to hope that just touching them is enough to take them out,” Jiro huffed, unfurling the map they had been given. “Alright, let's figure out how we’re going to do this…”

-]l[-

Momo wasn’t having a good start to high school. The first day had certainly been, eventful, with their teacher taking them not to the Entrance Ceremony or on a guided tour of the school grounds, but rather to an unannounced quirk test. And when he had made the threat of expelling the person with the lowest potential, she was certain it was a mere bluff. Surely U.A. wouldn’t be so bold as to expel a student on their first day, correct?

Well, apparently that wasn’t the case, and worse still was that she had fallen for their teacher's deception that he was lying about the lie!

Suffice to say, Momo had expected the second day of U.A. to be much more ordinary. And for the most part, it was. While having Pro Heroes as their teachers was certainly a novelty thing to have, it wasn’t something she was unused to. Ishin Girls’ Private Academy, a girls-only middle school she had been enrolled in, had both former and current Pro Heroes amongst their teaching staff, though they were admittedly far and few between. So Momo hadn’t been as surprised to have popular heroes as their teachers compared to her fellow classmates who went to more, common middle schools.

‘Oh heavens,’ Momo lamented as she placed another steel plating against the wall, ‘I shouldn’t think that. Bad Momo, you’re simply the only daughter of the Yaoyorozus. Just because your father’s a politician and your mother’s the head of R&D for Detnerat, that doesn’t make you any better than your classmates, despite their, eccentricities.’

Something that had been a pleasant surprise was how normal U.A. was. For a young woman coming from a highly elite private girls school, it was a novelty for Momo to have men in her class, to be able to interact with them so freely. The fact as well that there were so many students for different walks of life was simply fascinating to her. She no longer needed to be careful about what she said or how she said it when talking with her classmates. If she wanted to go to karaoke after class, she could. If she wanted to gossip with her friends, she could. If she wanted to, no matter how scandalous it felt, start dating someone, she could.

And what a surprise the final class of the day had been. No matter her experiences with being taught by Pro Heroes, none of that could have prepared her for the sheer awe that she felt when All Might had entered the room. The pure friendliness that he exuded, a starkly different feel to Mr. Aizawa, didn’t clash with the overwhelming strength that he possessed, but rather heightened it. A pinnacle of might and power, willing and eager to lower himself to their level to teach and instruct them as their mentor. It was a humbling experience, one that could only happen with a handful of Pro Heroes, with All Might being the greatest of them all in Momo’s mind.

When he had revealed to them that they would be doing combat exercises against one another, with pairs fighting against each other, Momo was ecstatic. This was what she had wanted; no need to worry about her image or appearance, simply focus on being a hero. Better yet, she might be paired with someone who could become a close friend.

Of course, the universe did love to disappoint. Because rather than getting to play the role of the fearless heroine, rushing to save the day against the treacherous villains, she was the treacherous villain. And rather than having a dashing knight by her side, or a mysterious rogue, or a powerful wizard, or even a brooding warlock, she was stuck with the lecherous troll.

‘Why?!’ she wailed in her head, leaning against the barricade she was preparing for support. ‘I’d take anyone, anyone but him! Even if I couldn’t have someone from a prestigious house like Todoroki or Ida, anyone would be better than HIM!’

As if summoned, Momo felt the skin on her back crawl with disgust, her sixth sense she had developed from having a sizable bust being triggered. Whirling around, she caught the purple-haired gremlin staring at her behind with a lecherous gaze. She affixed her most stern, irritated expression, which fortunately caused her goblin of a teammate to try and save face.

“Wait wait wait!” he pleaded, holding his hands in front of him. “I swear I wasn’t looking at your ass this time! I was, uh, checking the stability of our barricade! Yeah, that’s it!”

Momo didn’t buy his defence for a second. Staring at her assets once, she’d take it as a compliment. Twice, an annoyance. Thrice, and it was disgusting. But catching him lusting after her five separate times? That was too much, even for her patience.

“Do you remember earlier when I explained my quirk?” she said with an ice-cold tone, holding her palm flat in front of her teammate’s face. “My quirk, Creation, allows me to create any non-living material from the lipids in my body. Of course, that means any item I create can come from ANY part of my body. Understood?”

Mineta audibly gulped, his face turning pale with fright.

“U-understood,” he stammered, slowly backing away. “I hear you loud and clear.”

Momo doubted her warning would stick for long, but she was content with the reprieve while it lasted.

“Good, now how are the defences?” she asked, folding her arms across her chest.

“All good to go,” Mineta said with a thumbs up. “There’s a minefield of my sticky balls outside. No way they’re getting through that quickly.”

As much as Momo was revolted by the manner that Mineta referred to his quirk, he wasn’t wrong about its effectiveness. His quirk, called Pop Off, allowed Mineta to grow purple orbs on his scalp that could be pulled off and stuck to surfaces or items. Because he was the only thing that could bounce off them and not get stuck, they were very effective capture tools, one that Momo had decided to make full use of.

Spread all across the building were clusters of Mineta’s orbs, forcing the heroes who would be attacking shortly to watch their step, should they wish to continue. 

“And what about the listening devices I told you to place?” Momo asked. “Are they in position?”

“Oh yeah,” Mineta nodded, “they’re not going anywhere. I placed them on my sticky balls, so even if they find them, the heroes won’t be able to move them without getting stuck themselves.”

“Very well,” Momo nodded, setting up the final barricade, one that would block the rooms only doorway, locking themselves in with the weapon.

“Man, I hope I don’t need the bathroom later,” Mineta mumbled to himself, unaware that Momo was able to clearly hear him.

‘Why me?’ she sighed, continuing her work as she thought. ‘Maybe Mr Yotsubashi was right about me going into the Support Course.’

-]l[-

Once All Might had declared that their battle trial was underway, Kyoka and Kaminari slinked into the building, keeping their eyes out for an ambush. As they moved through the hallways, Kyoka took the lead, while Kaminari followed close behind her.

“Okay, give me a second,” Kyoka whispered to her teammate, stopping by a wall. Extending one of her jacks, she plugged it into the wall, listening closely. Through the concrete, she could hear muffled voices, and even though she couldn’t tell what they were saying or who was who, she knew who they had to be.

“Okay, found them,” Kyoka reported, turning to face her teammate. “They’re a few floors up, and they don’t seem to be moving. I think they’re guarding the weapon.”

“Got it,” Kaminari nodded, with the two of them continuing through the building. They moved in silence, not finding anything of note until they rounded a corner, stumbling across a minefield of round, purple balls, covering the ground before the staircase.

“What are these?” Kaminari asked aloud, reaching out to poke one.

“Wait!” Kyoka yelled, grabbing Kaminari’s other arm and pulling him back. “This is Mineta’s quirk. He talked about it in our Homeroom class. Look.”

Extending her jacks again, Kyoka jabbed them into the floor, quickly creating cracks as she broke apart the concrete. Grabbing a sizable chunk, she tossed the concrete onto the purple orbs closer to the stairs, but instead of bouncing off it, the concrete chunk stuck to the purple ball at an angle.

“I guess it’s best to stay clear of them,” Kaminari nodded. “Come on, let’s find out…”

Kyoka looked over to her teammate who had trailed off mid sentence, seeming to be glancing around the room.

“What is it? Do you hear something?” she asked, trying to hear anything unusual with her enhanced hearing, only to come up short. 

“It’s not something I hear, but something I feel,” Kaminari mysteriously answered, moving over to one of the sticky orbs near the edge of the room.

“Found you,” he said, before looking over his shoulder at Kyoka with a grin on his face. “Come look at this.”

Kyoka cautiously made her way across the room, being careful where she placed her steps. Crouching beside her blond teammate, she looked at what he was pointing at, seeing a small, metallic disk attached to the purple orb.

“What is it?” Kyoka asked, watching as Kaminari pulled it off, the back of the item breaking off and remaining attached.

“This is a rudimentary listening device,” Kaminari explained, holding it up for Kyoka to see. “See there? That’s a microphone, and that’s the transceiver. Our other opponent Yaoyorozu, the girl with the large, uh, fringe? She said her quirk allows her to make stuff, so I bet she made these as well.”

“Fringe, sure,” Kyoka repeated with a deadpan expression, and only a little jealousy. 

“Right, well, we probably don’t want them hearing us, so I’ll fix that,” Kaminari said, yellow sparks of electricity coursing over his skin, causing Kyoka’s hair to begin to stand on end as the small listening device let out a small pop in Kaminari’s hand.

The pair continued up the building, pausing every so often for Kyoka to check they were heading the right way. Occasionally, Kaminari would stop, finding more of the listening devices. It was after he found the fourth one that Kyoka’s curiosity couldn’t be contained any longer.

“How are you able to find them?” she asked as the latest device was destroyed.

“My quirk allows me to generate electricity, but it doesn’t have to be a big display,” Kaminari explained, tapping the earpiece that he wore over his right ear. “This thing here allows me to channel my electricity and create electrical communication signals, basically turning it into a phone. I was trying to see if I could access our opponents communicators, but while that was a bust, I sensed an electrical signal nearby, coming from the listening devices. It didn’t take much to put two and two together.”

“Huh, you really know your electronics,” Kyoka observed, an impressive tone in her voice. “Where’d you learn all that?”

“My dad runs an electronics shop out of our basement, and because he’s a househusband, I spent a lot of time with him, and I guess I picked up a few things here and there,” Kaminari explained with an amused smile. “When I was little, I tried to charge my dad’s phone with my quirk. Man was he angry when he found out. Apparently I used too much of my quirk, causing it to short circuit and die. Everything that wasn’t backed up to a cloud was lost, and I was grounded for a month.”

“Oh my God, no way,” Kyoka giggled with a hand over her mouth. “You seriously tried that?”

“Why not?” Kaminari argued. “Phones need electricity to charge the batteries, and my eight-year-old brain thought that if I used a lot of it, it would charge the phone faster. I’ve gotten much better at it; haven’t caused any problems with one for years.”

“So that display in class wasn’t all for show, huh?” Kyoka grinned, lightly jabbing her teammate in the ribs with her elbow.

“Hey, it made me really popular in middle school,” Kaminari defended. “Especially when we had school trips away from any charging ports.”

As they got closer to where the ‘villains’ were holed up, Kyoka and Kaminari became silent, stepping lightly in hopes of the listening devices they had intentionally left intact not hearing them. Stopping by a wall, Kyoka plugged her earphone jacks once more into it, listening intently. The noise that she could hear was exactly what she wanted; they were right beneath them.

She pointed up at the ceiling to Kaminari, who immediately understood the message. He raised a hand in front of him, yellow electricity crackling around his hand, ready for a fight.

Arriving at the room, Kyoka and Kaminari found it barricaded with metal plating, blocking off the only way in. Kaminari looked at her with a confused expression, asking her what they were going to do in a non-verbal manner. Kyoka simply smiled, bending her torso to reach the dials on the back of her boots, turning them up to the max. She turned to Kaminari, miming for him to plug his ears with his fingers, which he quickly did, catching on to her plan.

Stretching her earphone jacks down to the ports in her boots, they seamlessly plugged in, and suddenly the silence was broken with the sound of rhythmic thumping.

BA-DUMP!

BA-DUMP!

BA-DUMP!

The noise from her heartbeat was transmitted into her boots and amplified, creating a battering ram of noise that slammed into the barricade. From within, Kyoka and Kaminari were able to just hear the wails of a high-pitched male, showing that their plan was working. Kyoka only had to keep up the audio assault for less than a minute before cracks started appearing in the metal barricade, slowly spreading across the entirety of the enemy's defence. Pulling her leg back, Kyoka lashed out at the barricade with a solid kick, knocking down the defences and opening up the weapon room to them.

“Go, Kaminari!” Kyoka yelled, taking shelter by the door, leaving it open for her teammate. “Use Thundershock!”

“Alright!” he yelled, dashing into the room. “Indiscriminate Shock: 1.3 Million Volts!” 

Kyoka flinched when errant bolts of electricity surged out of the doorway, accompanied by the panicked screams and jabbering of someone being electrocuted.

‘I’m sure Kaminari knows what he’s doing,’ Kyoka hoped, peeking her head into the room once the lightning had stopped. Lying on the floor was Mineta, knocked out from the surge of electricity, his limbs twitching and spasming randomly. But instead of seeing the other ’villain’ also unconscious, Kyoka only saw a mound of cloth within the centre of the room. Said mound of cloth moved, revealing it to have been Yaoyorozu.

“Kaminari, there’s still one more!” Kyoka yelled into the room, hiding once more by the doorway. “Use Thundershock one more time!”

But there was silence; no crackles of electricity could be heard, nor the sounds of someone being electrocuted. Kyoka stepped into the doorway, trying to see what was stopping their victory, only to burst out laughing at the sight she saw.

“Whee!” Kaminari cheered, his hands bouncing up and down in front of his chest, giving a thumbs up, while his expression was dazed and looked incredibly goofy.

“Kaminari, why do you look so silly?!” Kyoka barely managed to say before folding over in laughter, clutching her belly to try and stay upright.

“Bzzt, hehehe,” Kaminari giggled, sending Kyoka into another peal of laughter.

“It is quite amusing,” a female voice said, snapping Kyoka out of it as her pulse raced. She’d made a critical error. While Kaminari’s expressions were entertaining, it had also caused Kyoka to forget one critical detail; she was still in a fight.

Whirling around while also extending her jacks towards her boots, Kyoka caught the sight of Yaoyorozu dashing towards her, a metal staff in her hands. Before Kyoka could fire off another pulse of soundwaves, her legs were swept out from underneath her, causing her to land painfully on her back with a cry of pain.

Yaoyorozu didn’t waste any time, using her larger size compared to Kyoka to overpower her, keeping her pinned on the floor underneath her staff. Grabbing the Capture Tape in her free hand, Yaoyorozu looped a portion of the capture tape around Kyoka’s flailing arms, capturing her.

“Kyoka Jiro has been captured!” All Might declared. 

Kyoka stopped her resistance, instead allowing her body to go limp, her spirit defeated at her quick capture.

“Denki Kaminari has been captured!” All Might added, causing Kyoka to glance to her side, seeing that Kaminari had also been pinned down by Yaoyorozu. “With that, the villains win!” Someone bring young Mineta down to the entrance for a check-up, and we’ll get your post-battle reviews started.”

A shadow covered Kyoka’s eyes, causing her to look up at Yaoyorozu standing over her, who was offering her hand.

“It was a close fight,” Yaoyorozu praised, helping haul Kyoka up to her feet. “If I hadn’t created that insulation blanket, you would have won the match.”

“Maybe,” Kyoka admitted, “but I shouldn’t have gotten so distracted by Kaminari’s goofy face.”

“Well, in all fairness,” Yaoyorozu admitted, looking over at the blond student, who was currently in the process of spinning on the spot, “his face was quite amusing.”

Kyoka smiled at that, before calling out to Kaminari. “Come on, Kaminari. All Might wants us back at the Monitor Room.”

“Okie-dokie!” Kaminari nodded vigorously, swaying as he walked from his spinning.

‘Such a dork,’ Kyoka smiled to herself, watching with interest as Yaoyorozu, rather than picking up her teammate, instead decided to drag him by the foot as if he were a sack. Her expression remained uncaring when his head bumped against the doorframe as he was dragged out of the room.

“What’d he do to deserve that?” Kyoka asked, raising an eyebrow at the display.

“This lecherous troll has done more than enough to deserve this,” Yaoyorozu spat venomously. “He ought to be glad that I have decided to treat him with some small level of respect.”

“What would it look like if you treated him without respect?” Kyoka hesitantly asked, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

“Well, I could toss him out the window,” Yaoyorozu mused to herself, glancing at one of the windows in the building. “I’m sure the Transpo-bots will be able to catch him on their stretcher. But no, as much as it tempts me, the troll didn’t actually try and touch me, so I’ll spare him that mercy at least.”

“Okay,” Kyoka all but squeaked, nodding her head vigorously as she followed the tall girl. ‘Note to self, never piss off Yaoyorozu. For such a pretty girl, she sure can be scary.’

-]l[-

“Right, for this battle, I’d say it’s no surprise that young Yaoyorozu is the V.I.P.,” All Might decided, looking out over the crowd of students. “Anyone want to take a guess as to why?”

“Would it be because she was the leader?” Uraraka asked with a raised hand.

“Partly, but that’s not all,” All Might said, looking around. “Anyone else?”

“She was prepared?” Kirishima ventured.

“Yes, correct, but that’s not all,” All Might nodded, quickly locking his gaze on Vance. “Young Vance, you look like you have the answer. Do you want to share with the class?”

“Yes sir,” Vance nodded, pushing his rectangular glasses up his nose. “Yaoyorozu formulated an effective plan, as well as preparing a backup plan. She also remained focused on the battle, rather than being distracted by Kaminari’s, admittedly amusing, expressions.”

Kaminari made a sound of excitement at the mention of his name, causing many in the class to chuckle, All Might included.

“Conversely, each other participant had their own shortcomings,” Vance continued. “Mineta didn’t come up with his own ideas, instead he followed along, and unlike Shoji who made a similar mistake in my battle, Mineta wasn’t able to contribute all that much to the outcome of the battle. For the heroes, while they performed much better, Kaminari didn’t account for the fact that the villains might have a counter to his wave of electricity. His excessive use also put him out of commission for the remainder of the battle, and in a real-world scenario, would have become a liability on the scene. For Jiro, while she performed admirably, it was her break of composure due to Kaminari that cost her the battle. Because she was distracted, she wasn’t able to see or hear Yaoyorozu’s approach, securing her defeat.”

“All excellent points, Vance, well done,” All Might praised, nodding at his student’s words, before turning to Yaoyorozu. “However, young Yaoyorozu, there were a few points that you didn’t do perfectly on. For instance, you didn’t make an effort to save your teammate.”

“However,” he continued, turning to look at Mineta, who wisely was looking away, “since the circumstances were unique, I’ll let it slide.”

“Thank you, All Might,” Yaoyorozu bowed.

“Regardless of who won or lost, well done, you four, well done indeed,” All Might congratulated, gesturing for them to join their classmates, while waving the final two teams forward. “Now, since we only have teams E and F left, at least we know who’s fighting who! Take a good look at your opponents, my students, you’re the only ones to know who you’re facing beforehand!”

Both teams glanced at each other, with Koda hiding behind a confident Sato, Mina grinning at the two of them, while Aoyama simply looked at them from the side with one eye.

“Now, the real question,” All Might continued, “is who will be the final heroes for the day, and who will be the villains?”

He reached into the hero and villain boxes, taking a moment to decide, ramping up the tension in the room.

“Alright,” he declared, “our heroes are going to be…”

Chapter Text

“...Team E, Aoyama Yuga and Ashido Mina, are the heroes!” All Might declared, holding up the deciding sphere in the air for all to see. “And the villains will be Team F, Koda Koji and Sato Rikido!”

“A villain, huh?” Rikido said aloud, his arms crossed against his chest. “Guess that gives us time to prepare.”

“Yeah, but it ain’t much of an advantage,” Yamada grunted from where she stood next to him. “I was on the villains team and we still lost, even if it was on a technicality.”

She raised her arm, her hand clenched into a fist and held up to him. “Win this for Team Villains, yeah?”

Rikido smirked, bumping his own fist against Yamada’s. “Oh yeah, we’re gonna crush this.”

But as he followed after All Might, flanked by Koda, his shy, quiet teammate, as well as Aoyama and Ashido, his two very much not quiet opponents, Rikido couldn’t help but be worried, in spite of the confidence he’d shown Yamada. If anything, it was because of her. Yamada was, in Rikido’s eyes, one of the strongest people he knew. And given he came from a long line of Pro Heroes, that was saying something. From what little she’d shared with him, her childhood had been incredibly difficult. Growing up in the Outlands was hard, that was a universally known fact, but having to also survive in the Wastelands? That was something else entirely. Add in what was done to her, all the experiments and lethal tests that she somehow survived, it all went to show not only how physically strong she was, but also how strong she was mentally and spiritually. And yet, despite all that, Yamada had managed to lose. They had the win in the bag, the finish line right before them, only for one moment of distraction to cost them the fight.

‘If Yamada’s able to lose so easily, how much harder will it be for me?’ Rikido thought to himself. 

“Okay, my young wards!” All Might grinned, his voice snapping Rikido out of his thoughts as the small group came to a stop in front of the final building. “Come get your gear! The sooner we finish this final battle, the sooner you all can head home early!”

“Aw yeah!” Ashido cheered, bouncing forwards. “I gotta say, All Might, you're a much cooler teacher than Mr. Aizawa. Oh, but please don’t tell him that.”

“Hahaha, don’t you worry, young Ashido, no word of the matter will leave my lips!” All Might promised with a grin. “And besides, we simply have different teaching styles. Who knows, some people might prefer his methods over mine.”

Each person stepped forth to grab their items, with Rikido giving a short glance over his map to see the weapon was located on the top floor of the building.

“Okay, Team F, time for you to get to work!” All Might said, holding the door open for them. “Show me what you’re made of!”

“Right,” Rikido nodded, walking into the building as confidently as he could, the footsteps of Koda sounding out behind him. The pair continued their journey up the floors in silence, and as they did Rikido took stock of his teammate’s appearance. Like himself, Koda had a very broad, muscular build, however where Rikido’s mutation, his large lips, could easily be dismissed as a somewhat odd feature, Koda was very clearly someone with hereditary mutations. His bald, rocky head, the thick hair-like protrusions out of the back of his neck, and his quite literally square jaw were certainly more prominent mutations than Rikido’s.

Similarly to their physical appearance, their costumes also shared both similarities and differences. Both of them wore a tight, form fitting yellow suit, however where Rikido’s covered his whole body bar his nose, mouth and the surrounding skin, a homage to his ancestors who had worn similar costumes, Koda’s suit reached only to his elbows and knees. Their suits also had noticeable differences; the colour scheme of Rikido’s was yellow with white gloves and boots, whereas had a red strip down the middle of his shirt with an open mouth symbol emblazoned there. And where Rikido wore white boots that ended close to his knees, Koda wore yellow shoes with a red trim. Rikido also had his utility belt, filled with lots of sugar cubes for his quirk, but Koda’s costume didn’t have any additions.

But their similar styles of hero costume weren’t the only thing Rikido was noticing as they passed through floor after floor. After all, there was a particular oddity he had noticed with every room they had passed by; none of them had doors. Aside from the glass double doors at the entrance to the building, the exact same as every other building in the test, Rikido hadn’t encountered any other doors. There were plenty of doorways, no doubt about it, but every single entrance into every single room was wide open and exposed.

‘That might be a problem,’ Rikido thought to himself, immediately doubling down on his worry when they rounded a corner on the top floor, with the weapon they were meant to defend perfectly visible through the open doorway. ‘Definitely a problem.’

“I guess this is it,” Rikido said as he and his teammate stepped into the room. “Well, even though it doesn’t have a door or anything, at least it’s on the top floor.”

Koda didn’t audibly reply, his shy teammate instead miming picking up the fake nuclear weapon and moving it, which was a good idea, except…

“Wish we could do that, Koda, but the weapon is too large for the doorway,” Rikido explained. “And we can’t just hide it in the room out of sight either, the room’s too small for it.”

Koda hung his head in either shame or disappointment, obviously feeling down that his idea hadn’t worked.

“Hey, don’t feel bad about it,” Rikido encouraged his classmate. “All this means is that we’ve just got to keep the heroes from getting this far.”

Koda, rather than appearing to be encouraged by this, paled instead, motioning to himself and then to the group.

“You want to stay here? Guard the weapon?” Rikido asked, with Koda vigorously nodding.

“Hmm, then I may have an idea for what we can do to win this,” Rikido thought aloud, bringing out his map and gesturing to it. “So, when the heroes enter, this is what we’ll do…”

-]l[-

“So what music do you like?”

“Pardon?” Aoyama asked, looking back at Mina with a confused expression.

“You know, music, symphony of the soul, stuff you dance to,” Mina explained, looking up at her French teammate from the perfect splits she was doing on the sidewalk.

“No, I understood you, I was simply taken aback by your question,” Aoyama said, looking skyward thoughtfully. “If I had to say anything, most likely classical? That was often the genre that Maman and Papa would play, so I grew up with it as a child.”

“Oh yeah, I can see that,” Mina nodded, getting up from her splits and moving into another stretching form. “Me? I'm much more of a hip-hop and pop type girly. Rap's also really good, though I don't understand all of what they're saying if it's in English. Oh, and I love rock, you know, that real good head-banging stuff, music that makes you want to belt out the lyrics even when you're real bad at singing.”

Taking a moment to pause her rambling as she stretched, Mina took a proper look at her teammate’s appearance. He wore a suit of armour, but unlike the practical appearance that Yamada and Vance wore, Aoyama’s seemed much more flashy and ceremonial. The metal of the armour was a lavender coloured hue with a golden trim, and it consisted of a chest plate, two spherical shoulder pads, elbow-length vambraces, and knee-length boots. The flashiest parts of his costume however were his cape and glasses. His cape was a long, glittery reddish indigo piece of fabric, reaching all the way down to his ankles. His glasses on the other hand were wing-shaped with a red tint, the ends swooping up past the top of his head.

‘We really are different, aren’t we?’ Mina asked herself, glancing down at her own costume. While Aoyama’s armour seemed much more ceremonial than functional, armour was still armour. Mina on the other hand had designed her hero costume based on what she thought looked cool. The white mask she wore over her eyes: because it reminded her of a racoon’s face, especially with her black sclera. Her skin-tight body suit: because she looked hot in it, a fact she wasn’t shy about. Even the purple and turquoise colours were simply because those were her favourites, and the camo pattern was because of her love for the style. Her tan-coloured waist coat with the fur lining: again, because she thought it looked cool, and it fashionably added depth to her outfit. The only practical part of her costume was the acid-proof nature of her clothing, a must have with an acid quirk, and her shoes. Her acid-proof boots were specially made by her support company to have holes on the sides of them, allowing her to secrete acid from her feet to slide around.

‘Well, at least I’m not the only one who chose something they’d be comfortable in,’ Mina decided, strengthening her spirits. ‘Kirishima’s basically in pants, and Jiro’s costume looks like it’s basic streetwear. Yeah, no need to be all down in the dumps, Mina! After all, it’s the actions of the Pro’s that are more important than their costumes, right?’

“So, your quirk is a belly laser, right?” Mina asked, picking herself up off the ground.

“Oui,” Aoyama smirked before turning to the side. Placing his hands on the back of his head just like he did the day before, he thrust out his hips, sending a beam of dazzling light shooting out into the mock-city.

“My quirk is as dazzling as my personality, non?” 

“Yeah, sure,” Mina hesitantly agreed. While she wasn’t sure what to make of her teammate’s pose while using his quirk, her time as a popular student in middle school had taught her how to steer the conversation.

“Well, while my quirk isn’t as, uh, flashy as yours,” Mina said, “I’d say it’s just as powerful, if not more.”

Concentrating on her quirk, Mina produced globules of acid in her palms. Giving the French student a grin, she flung her arms out, throwing the milky-white liquids at a nearby street light. Upon contact the acid began to eat through the metal, acrid smoke rising from the dissolving material. Droplets fell onto the concrete as well, causing puffs of smoke to rise up from the now pockmarked sidewalk. After a few seconds, enough of the street light’s side had been eaten away for it to become unbalanced, causing it to tilt on its side, with gravity quickly taking hold, causing it to crash down across the street.

“And I’m able to control the acidity of it as well,” Mina elaborated, producing new acid that ate through a metal railing, but when it came into contact with the concrete floor left it unmarked.

“Time for the fifth and final match of the day!” All Might announced, causing both Mina and Aoyama to listen intently. “Indoor Antipersonal Battle Training, Round Five, Start!”

“It is finally our time to shine,” Aoyama declared, striding confidently into the building, his cape flowing behind him.

“Oh yeah!” Mina cheered, deciding that now was the perfect time to properly test out her new shoes. This time creating an acid that had a low acidity, a low viscosity, as well as a slippery texture. The acid shot out of the holes on the sides of her boots, coating the ground underneath her feet.

“Woohoo!” she cheered, sliding down the hallway past Aoyama, throwing her hands into the air with a leap at the successful costume design. However, in her excitement she released acid of a higher acidity. Droplets of these fell onto Aoyama’s cape, burning holes through them.

Smelling the acrid smell and hearing the faint sound of acid eating through fabric, his shocked expression caught sight of the damage to his cape, quickly turning to face Mina, his expression livid.

“Eh heh, sorry,” Mina apologised, clasping both of her hands together. “I didn’t mean to damage your cape, promise.”

“Hmph,” Aoyama huffed, turning his face away. “Perhaps it is best if we split up. That way we can cover more ground.”

“Wait! Maybe that’s not such a-” Mina began, only to trail off as Aoyama stormed off, unheeding her words, “-good idea. Oh man, I really didn’t mean to damage his costume.”

“Okay, focus, Mina,” she said to herself as she walked through the corridors. “You just need to find the weapon and the ‘villains’. Then you can radio Aoyama for help. Simple.”

As she made her way through the first floor of the building, guided by the map in her hands, Mina couldn’t help but grow nervous from how quiet it all was. There was no humming of overhead lights, no hustle and bustle of cars and people going by outside; she was certain that if a feather fell to the ground, she’d be able to hear it. The silence continued all the way until she reached one of the many stairwells of the floor, at which point she could no longer stand it.

“Hey, Aoyama, I've reached the second floor. Where are you?” Mina asked over the communicator.

“I have also made it to the next floor, mademoiselle, and there has been no sign of the méchants,” he replied back.

“Meshon?” Mina asked aloud in confusion. She could guess what he was referring to, but she had no idea what the word meant.

“Non non non,” Aoyama corrected, “not meshon, méchants. It is French for ‘villain’.”

“Oh, gotcha,” Mina whispered, poking her head around a corner as she crept through the building.

There was a moment of silence over the radio channel, a silence that Mina decided to capitalise on.

“I'm really sorry about your cape. I didn't mean to damage it, honest,” she sincerely apologised, leaning her back against a nearby wall. “I was just so excited, you know? All my life I've wanted nothing more than to be a hero. Everyone in my middle school thought the same thing, that I had all of the traits to be a hero; I have a powerful quirk, a cheerful, outgoing personality, I'm able to make friends with anyone, and I'm good looking. But it always felt like a fantasy, like a childhood dream. Heh, even after the Entrance Exam, it still didn't feel real. And sure, we had the quirk test yesterday, but that seemed more like an initiation rather than actual classes. So to be here, in this moment, to look back at all of the time and effort that led me to it? It was kind of overwhelming.”

The line was silent after she finished. Mina sighed to herself, beginning to push herself off the wall, only for Aoyama's voice to stop her.

“My maman made my cape.”

Mina's breath stilled in her lungs, her teammate’s words rolling through her mind. 

“While the rest of my costume was made by the support company, my cape was made by her,” he explained. “She wanted me to stand out in the crowd, to dazzle and wow everyone around me. To tell them all, ‘Look at me! Here I am!’ To show everyone that even someone like me, a boy with a defective quirk, can be a hero.”

“Defective?” Mina said, only realising she had said her thoughts aloud when Aoyama responded.

“My quirk. You remember what I said about it yesterday, non? I can only fire my laser for a second, otherwise my tummy gets very sore. Even still, I want to be a hero, a dazzling light for all to look at.”

Mina pushed herself off the wall, continuing her search of the building. And as she checked both rooms and hallways, she felt as if a weight had been taken off her shoulders.

“I’m sure you’re going to be a dazzling hero, Aoyama, I just know it,” she promised.

The line was quiet for a moment, before Aoyama’s voice carried over. “Thank you for your confidence, Ashido, but I’m sure…”

“Aoyama?” Mina asked with a worried tone, confused why he’d trail off mid sentence.

“Merde, the enemy has found me,” he relayed, his halting voice indicating that he was running as he spoke. “Come back me up, I’m at the southwestern corner of the second floor.”

“Wait, what do you mean the enemy has found you?!” Mina yelled. “Who is it?”

“I don’t know,” Aoyama confessed, his voice ragged and his breathing heavy from exertion. “All I can hear is heavy footsteps and something crashing through walls, so I think it’s Sato.”

“Just hang on, Aoyama!” Mina yelled, already dashing towards the southwestern edge of the building to join her teammate. “I’m on my way!”

“Hurry! I don’t know how long I’m able to av-gah!”

“Aoyama? Aoyama?!” Mina cried out, desperately hoping for an answer from her teammate. But the answer that came to her as she ran through the hallways from Aoyama.

“Aoyama Yuga has been captured!” All Might declared, revealing what Mina had been dreading and hoping wasn’t true.

“Crap, that means it’s now two against one,” Mina muttered to herself. “Okay, stay calm, Mina, you just need to find the weapon. It’s most likely to be on the higher floors, so I'll try at the top and work my way down.”

Sticking to the edge of the building, it allowed Mina to stay within the light that streamed in from the windows, rather than making her way through the gloom that was the innermost corridors. 

As she rounded a corner, Mina caught sight of the staircases on this floor leading to the one above right ahead of her. Glancing around and not seeing any of the opposition lurking nearby, Mina burst into a sprint, dashing towards the stairs. However, as she neared a hallway on her left, the sound of thumping footsteps caused her head to snap to the side, her eyes widening as she saw the form of Sato charging towards her, his arms pumping back and forth at his side.

“Oh crap!” Mina screamed, tossing herself forwards, just barely avoiding Sato as he slammed into the wall where she had just been, causing the concrete to break and shatter, filling the hallway with dust.

“You really thought you could catch me off guard while making so much noise?” Mina coughed, yet somehow managing to convey her teasing tone.

“Stop moving about and let me grab you,” was Sato’s reply, his voice sounding deeper, gruffer, and more feral. He stepped out of the cloud of dust he’d created, revealing his already impressive muscles had appeared to have swelled in size, causing his already tall height to now loom over Mina.

“Hey, uh, is it just me, or are you bigger than before?” Mina nervously asked, slowly inching backwards away from her opponent. But Sato didn’t bother answering, merely lowering his body for another charge at her. Feeling desperate, Mina decided to rely on one of the oldest tricks in the book.

“Aoyama, what are you doing?! You’ve been eliminated!”

Sato’s head whipped around, trying to see what Mina had been talking about, falling hook, line, and sinker for her deception. Wasting no time, Mina began secreting acid out of her feet, allowing her to skate towards the stairwell and begin climbing it just as Sato realised he’d been duped. 

“I’m gonna crush you good, Pinky!” Sato roared, thundering footsteps sounding out behind Mina as she raced out of the stairwell and skated towards the next flight of stairs. This brought up both a strength and weakness of the building that she knew was going to affect how well she could pull off her plan. Before the test had begun, Mina and Aoyama had looked over their map, discovering that as the floors went higher and higher, there were less and less ways up. While there were five staircases on the first floor, giving her and Aoyama plenty of options, there was only one staircase to reach the sixth floor, meaning that as she climbed, she’d have less and less options to choose from, and a greater risk of getting caught in a bottleneck. That was, of course, assuming she could remember where the stupid staircases were!

Mina wasn’t the best academic student, she knew that better than anyone else. Some people might call her ditsy and meaner people would call her a bimbo, not that she was blonde anyway, but she liked to think of herself as more athletically gifted. And unfortunately, her ability to remember precisely where on each floor the staircases was pretty much nonexistent. Fortunately, it seemed as if Sato was having similar troubles navigating through each floor, assuming that's what those crashing noises were.

Mina’s frantic searching continued for a moment before, much to her joy, she spotted a sign to a stairwell. But much to her horror, Sato saw it and her too. However, as she skated as fast as she could towards the stairs, she couldn’t help but notice Sato had slowed down, and risking a glance over her shoulder, she saw him panting for breath as he barely managed to keep up.

‘Just need to keep it an endurance race,’ Mina thought to herself as she raced up the stairs, taking them two at a time. ‘Asui showed us all that I don’t have to beat them to win; I just need to capture the weapon.’

As Mina raced through the ascending floors, while the staircases leading upwards grew harder and harder to find, she was finding the noise and footfalls of Sato to be growing fainter and fainter. For a brief moment, she thought she might have lost him, and hopefully his teammate Koda as well, who she hadn’t seen nor heard throughout the entire battle. However, it was as she was part way through searching the fifth floor for the one and only staircase that led to the sixth and final floor where the weapon resided somewhere, that she heard a terrifying bellow. It was almost animalistic and feral in nature, and was quickly accompanied by the loud crashes and thuds of concrete walls being destroyed. However, unlike before, the gap between these noises was frighteningly small.

“Candy crush!” Sato bellowed, his voice travelling throughout the entire room.

While Mina could have made a quippy joke about copyright infringements of pre-Combine comic book heroes, she instead pressed herself against a wall, watching with one eye as Sato, his body much, much larger than before, barrelled through the walls of the fifth floor, tearing through them as if they were paper. 

“Okay, not gonna lie, kinda scary,” Mina muttered under her breath, sneaking through the trail of destruction. What had been a race quickly turned into a game of hide and seek, with Mina desperately trying to find the final staircase whilst also avoiding a rampaging Sato who was equally desperate to find her. All of the rubble that had been scattered about the floor from Sato’s paths of destruction also proved to be a hindrance for Mina, the uneven surface making it difficult for her to skate on her trails of acid while also having the potential to make noise. But fortunately, luck was on her side.

“Yes!” she cheered, finally having found the elusive staircase, only to quickly clamp her hands over her mouth, her eyes widening in horror. She paused, focusing entirely on the sounds around her, jolting when she heard a roar of anger growing closer and closer. Mina raced towards the stairs, using the railing to practically fling herself around the bend, seeing out of the corner of her eye Sato barreling towards her, hot on her heels. The moment her feet reached the top of the stairs she began skating on acid, knowing that it was going to be a close call, and doing her best to avoid paying attention to the thundering footsteps that seemed to be right behind her. Skidding round a corner, Mina heard the crash of Sato slamming into a wall, buying her precious seconds. She rounded another corner, and while it was in the attempt to shake him off her trail, the sight of the weapon was simply more good luck.

“Just a little bit further,” Mina chanted to herself as she skated as fast as she could while staying in control. “Just a little bit further.”

She could hear Sato behind her, but it was at such a distance that she knew she would get there well before he could.

“Yes, I did it!” she cheered, approaching the open doorway. “And the winner is Ashido Mi-ghak!” 

While the room had appeared empty save for the weapon, what Mina hadn’t expected was Koda, the opponent who had been missing the entire fight, reaching out and grabbing her around the chest, her feet swinging out in front of her as her momentum was abruptly halted.

“Ashido Mina has been captured!” All Might announced over the speakers. “With that, the villains are the winners for the final match of the day!”

“Aw man,” Mina sighed, her shoulders slumping and Koda let her go and removed the capture tape he had caught her with. “Right at the end too.”

“That, was, so annoying,” Sato panted, stumbling towards the door, his muscle mass shrinking with each step, before he collapsed face-first to the ground, the sound of his snoring able to be heard only seconds later.

“Man, talk about a sugar crash,” Mina giggled, glancing over at Koda. “Mind helping me carry him down?”

-]l[-

“Well well, talk about a nail-biting final battle!” All Might laughed once Sato and the others returned to the Monitoring Room.

‘Well, I guess Sato didn’t return by himself,’ Chell thought to herself, glancing to her side where her friend was being held, her arm under his.

“Now, for our final V.I.P., I think that easily belongs to young Ashido!” All Might continued, his signature grin focused on the pink-skinned girl. “Any thoughts as to why?”

“Oh, because she was really manly!” Kirishima called out, grinning at the girl. “Even though Aoyama got taken out, she kept pushing forward even though Sato was chasing her all the while!”

“Exactly!” All Might grinned. “Even when you were outnumbered and pursued, you didn’t give up, just like a hero should! Well done, my dear! You truly went plus ultra!”

“Thanks, All Might,” Ashido grinned, but Chell couldn’t help but notice the glance the pink girl gave to Kirishima, nor the warm smile she had.

“Now, as for the rest of you,” All Might continued, addressing the other participants. “Young Koda, while you were instrumental in securing the victory for your team, it was only at the end when Sato had pursued young Ashido to you. I understand being nervous, everyone experiences it, but you need some confidence in yourself, my boy. You made it into U.A.; time to show why, alright?”

Koda shyly nodded, his hands held together in front of him.

“Young Aoyama, you made the mistake that all rookie Pros and sidekicks make; splitting off from your partner,” All Might continued. “While it does allow you to cover more ground, it leaves your back open for a surprise attack. So unless there is a very specific reason for it, at this point, you should all be following the age-old horror movie rule of not splitting the group.”

“Oui, understood, All Might.”

“And young Sato,” All Might began, only to nod to himself as he took in Sato’s sleeping expression. “Well, if Sato were awake, I’d tell him that while he performed admirably in pursuing young Ashido and not giving up, even pushing himself and his quirk to its limits, he needs to be more tactical about his use of his quirk. Not every problem can be solved by going through it, after all.”

“I’ll make sure to tell him, sir,” Chell nodded, adjusting her grip on her friend. “He should wake up before the end of class anyway.”

“Very good,” All Might nodded, turning to face the class as a whole. “Now let’s get out of his dark room, everyone! We can enjoy the spring time air while I give your class review!”

Chell, along with the rest of the class, followed All Might, their teaching coming to a stop in front of the entrance of Training Grounds Beta.

“Overall, well done, everyone!” All Might congratulated them, smiling proudly. “We had only a few scrapes and bruises, but no serious injuries, apart from young Midoriya’s. You all had great teamwork, though! Considering this was your first training exercise, you all did splendidly!”

“After the trial by fire that was Mr. Aizawa, such a straight forward class is almost a letdown,” Tokoyami admitted.

“We teachers are free to hold no-nonsense classes if we choose!” All Might explained, turning towards the exit. “Now, I’m off to give young Midoriya his evaluation. You still have some time before class has finished, so change out of those costumes of yours and head back to the classroom! You can all chat and relax while you wait for the period to end!”

With that, All Might dashed away into the tunnel, disappearing in a trail of dust kicked up in his wake. Seeing no point of lingering, Chell followed after, though moving at a much more subdued pace, carrying Sato in her arms.

“Need any help with carrying him?” Hagakrue asked, the cape wrapped around her clearly showing where she was, her gloves held out towards Chell.

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Chell shrugged, politely declining the offer. “Sato’s pretty light. I can manage.”

“You sure it’s not because you’re strong?” one of their classmates, Vance, if Chell remembered correctly, asked in a lightly teasing tone.

“Eh, probably,” Chell admitted. “Vance, right? You were paired up with Hagakure.”

“Oh, I forgot to introduce you both!” Hagakure exclaimed, one of her gloved hands grabbing hold of Vance’s. “Yamada, this is Vance, well, I guess you already knew that, but he’s really nice, and since he’s an international student, I thought he could sit with us at lunch tomorrow.”

“That fine with you?” Chell asked, asking the helmed student, raising an eyebrow, visible thanks to the front of her helmet resting at her side.

“Oh yeah, definitely beats eating alone,” Vance chuckled. “I’d be glad to join you three.”

“Yay!” Hagakure cheered, wrapping her invisible arms around Vance. “Hey, Vance, didya know that Yamada is really knowledgeable about songs? She’s a really good friend to have if you need some music recommendations.”

‘Friend,’ Chell thought to herself, smiling and idly watching Hagakure eagerly talking. ‘I’m someone who has friends. Someone who people WANT to be friends with.’

It was a silly thought, she’d known for a while that Sato was her friend, her first true friend since Wheatley stabbed her in the back, and a handful of others back at Somei. But the external validation of it only caused her smile to become a smirk.

‘Take that, you metal bitch. Guess that’s another thing your superior mind was wrong about.’

Chapter Text

Even though Chell didn't share any blood with her father, nor were they even born in the same half of the century, she still found that in the short time Hizashi had filled that parental gap that existed in her heart, she had begun to adopt some of his tastes and views. 

They shared similar tastes in music, both preferring loud, bone shaking tunes.

They both were fairly dismissive of quirk restriction laws and all of their intricacies.

They were both waiting for her Uncle Shota to finally ask out Ms Fukukado, that teacher from a rival hero school in the south.

They both loved fried chicken, often being a weekly treat on Saturdays to end the school week.

But most of all, Chell had inherited her father's hatred of journalists, or vultures as he loved to call them. And now, more than ever before, did she truly understand why.

“What's it like having All Might as a teacher?!”

“It's new.”

“Is Principal Nezu a staunch opponent of the Hero Public Safety Commissions rules and regulations?!”

“Ask him yourself.”

“You’re Present Mic’s daughter, right?!”

“Buzz off.”

Now, this wasn’t the first time Chell had dealt with the reporters near U.A. On the day of the welcoming ceremony, when Class 1-A had been subjected to her uncle’s Quirk Assessment Test, the reporters had been spread throughout the station, desperate to get answers from passing staff and students as the media weren’t able to access the trains that travelled from Yokohama Station to the U.A. Station. However, Chell, being the daughter of a Pro Hero, knew how to ignore them, easy to do when they didn’t get in her or her father’s way. This was the case on the day before, the first official day of U.A. classes. 

However, it was clear that some of them had gotten desperate, for these journalists were no longer content to try and find their next big scoop inside of the train station, but outside of the walls of U.A. The desperate, foolhardy, confident, or arrogant reports, quite possibly a mix of all four, had managed to navigate their way through the Wastelands and Outlands that surrounded U.A. While they weren’t able to get inside the campus itself due to the security systems, essential for any hero academy that was located out in the dangerous, untamed parts of Japan, they were still present, and more importantly, annoyingly persistent. 

“Wow, these reporters are really nosy, Vance,” Hagakure giggled, holding onto Vance’s hand, a habit of the invisible girl that Chell had started to notice. “It’s kinda annoying.”

“I’m more surprised they’re willing to go through the Outlands to get here,” Vance admitted, adjusting his glasses. “I wouldn’t think that a news van is all that good at off-roading.”

They had all met up at the U.A. Station, Chell arriving well in advance as usual due to her father. While she didn’t know Vance all that well, or Hagakure for that matter, the two of them got along fine with Chell and Sato, so she didn’t mind them forming a group of four. And besides, walking in a group seemed to have deterred all but the most stubborn of reporters, with the unlucky students who walked by themselves constantly being bombarded by questions. This did not mean, however, that they weren’t disturbed.

“Excuse me, you there!” a reporter called out to them as the group walked past. “As the daughter of Present Mic, what information can you give about his secret relationship with Eraser Head?!”

The question caused Chell to freeze, processing the inane question in her head, scarcely believing it had been asked.

“Hoh boy,” Sato muttered. “This won’t be pretty.”

“What secret relationship?” Chell bit out, turning to level a glare at the reporter.

“Well, there’s obviously something going on between them,” the reporter continued, either too confident or too stupid to recognise the changing mood of her interviewee. “After all, in Kyoto-”

“My father saved Uncle Shota because he’s his best friend and a brother to him,” Chell interrupted. “There’s nothing going on there aside from brotherly care.”

“But-”

“Ya know, shipping people in real life is kinda creepy,” Hagakure added. “Like, they aren’t dolls for you to make stories with.”

“Well-”

“To hell with this,” Chell scoffed, turning to face the school. She ignored the snickers of the other reporters as they watched with malicious glee as their colleague was publicly humiliated by students, typical of vultures like them. She stretched her arm out, palm facing towards the towering walls of the main U.A. building, before a streak of light shot out. Simultaneously, her other hand pointed downwards to create the connection of the portal, causing Chell to fall through the floor and out of the side of the U.A. building. She reoriented herself in midair, ignoring the wind whipping past her before she landed with a thump on the ground. Turning around and ignoring the pointed looks and whispers of her fellow students who had already passed the journalists, Chell created a new portal connection, keeping the opening outside of the U.A. walls while creating the exit on the underside of a sheltered seating area.

“Come on through, guys!” Chell called out, looking up at the portal and seeing her classmates looking down at her. 

“Thanks, Yamada,” Sato replied, dropping down without any hesitation, the short fall inconsequential for her muscular friend. He was followed by Vance, who cautiously lowered himself down through the portal by sitting on the edge, his feet dangling through the hole before dropping the rest of the way, leaving only Hagakure left.

“Catch me, Vance!” she giggled as she dropped down through the hole, causing the international student to scramble to his feet to catch her in his arms.

“Give me some heads up next time, Hagakure,” he gently scolded her, not that his words seemed to have any effect on her energetic behaviour, clinging to his arm like a limpet.

“Hey, Yamada?” Sato asked in a quiet voice, pulling Chell slightly ahead of the others so they were out of earshot. “Do you think Hagakure is-”

“Totally head over heels for Vance, yeah, probably,” Chell nodded. “No one’s naturally that clingy, right?”

“Doubt it,” Sato agreed. “The real question is what Vance thinks of her.”

They glanced behind them, watching Vance chatting amicably with Hagakure, not showing any sign of discomfort.

“I mean, he’s only just met her, so maybe he’s deciding on his feelings even if Hagakure’s apparently decided to go all in,” Chell mused.

“Maybe he just hasn’t realised it?” Sato suggested, a suggestion that Chell answered with a levelled glare.

“Sato, no one’s that dense. You only see that in manga and anime. I mean, the only possible exception might be if someone’s really bad at talking to their crush, so bad that they don’t realise their feelings are reciprocated.”

As if summoned, a loud sneeze rang out across the school grounds, who turned out to be an incredibly mortified Midoriya who promptly ran into the school building, clutching his hand. 

“Where’s Midori going?” Hagakure asked as she and Vance caught up, stalling any conversation Chell and Sato could have for a later date.

“He must be going to Recovery Girl’s office,” Vance guessed. “He really injured his arm yesterday afterall.”

“Makes sense,” Sato nodded as they entered the building’s entrance, filled with shoe lockers. They briefly split up, each going to their respective lockers to switch to their indoor shoes before meeting back up to walk to class together.

“So what do you guys think’s gonna happen today?” Hagakure asked, swinging her arms as she walked, which in turn swung one of Vance’s. “I mean, we had the fighting class yesterday which was crazy, so do you think it somehow gets crazier or calmer?”

“We’ll be selecting our class president today,” Chell definitively answered.

“How are you so certain, Yamada?” Vance asked. 

“Dude, my uncle is our teacher,” Chell answered with deadpan. “Plus, he never changes up his schedule. Every year he does the Quirk Assessment Test that we went through, gives the class a gap, and then on their second official day he gets them to choose the class president.”

“Are you planning to run for president, Yamada?” Sato asked.

“Hell no,” Chell scoffed. “I have no intention of being class leader. I’m not that much of a people person; I’m used to being a solo act, have been for years. You?”

“Nah, class president isn’t for me,” Sato admitted. “I tried it in middle school, ‘cause I had it in my head I had to live up to my family legacy, but it went terribly. There were simply better people for it, so I stepped down after the summer.”

“Oh, are you gonna run for class president, Vance?” Hagakure excitedly asked, leaning her face closer to Vance’s, even if Chell couldn’t actually see it. “I’d vote for you!”

“Maybe,” he admitted. “We don’t have a class president structure in the U.C.A., but I’m keen to try.”

“Cool, you’ve got my vote,” Chell shrugged, her hands laced behind her head.

“Just like that?” Sato incredulously asked.

“Like hell I’m voting for Ida, and Vance is the only other person I know who actually wants it,” Chell explained. “He has a good head on his shoulders and according to Hagakure, he led them both pretty well during the Battle Trial yesterday.”

“Exactly!” Hagakure cheered. “When Todoroki was all, ‘I’m too cool to fight you guys,’ Vance was all, ‘Sneak Attack!’ and took him out instantly. And then he was fighting Shoji and they were all ‘Bam, wham, bash!’ and he was doing it so I could get the win!”

“And hey, if you vote for yourself, you have four votes,” Sato added. “That’s a fifth of the class already.”

“You’d vote for me, Sato?” Vance asked in surprise.

“Sure, why not? I’m not voting for myself, and Yamada doesn’t want the position, so you seem like the best alternative to be class president.”

“As much as I appreciate all of your support, we don’t know for sure if I’d get it,” Vance pointed out. “And besides, maybe Mr Aizawa will have a different plan in mind for today.”

-]l[-

Homeroom began like normal, with Izuku watching Mr Aizawa place a stack of paper on the podium in front of him.

“Good work with yesterday’s battle training. I’ve looked over your grades and evaluations.”

“Bakugo,” he said, turning to face Izuku's childhood friend. “Grow up already. Stop wasting your talent.”

Izuku expected Kacchan to make some remark or even scoff at their teacher’s words, but instead, he watched the back of Kacchan’s head lower as he looked down at his desk.

“Got it,” Kacchan muttered, not adding any usual dismissal of authority or criticism.

“And it seems Midoriya ended yet another day with a broken arm,” Mr Aizawa added, his baleful gaze turning to lock onto Izuku, a gaze he avoided by also looking down at his desk. “Learn to control your quirk, because just trying isn’t going to cut it.”

Izuku chanced a glance up at his teacher, his worry quickly shrinking (though certainly not vanishing entirely) when he saw the calm look in Mr Aizawa’s eyes.

“I hate repeating myself,” his teacher continued. “But you do have potential, assuming you can overcome this. Work at it, Midoriya.”

“Okay!” Izuku replied, trying to project as much confidence as possible in his voice.

“Kaminari,” Mr Aizawa continued, his gaze shifting to the other side of the class. “You made the same mistake as Midoriya; you didn’t control your quirk and became useless after one attack. Don’t make that mistake again, else you’ll endanger those around you.”

“Understood,” Kaminari sighed in defeat.

“And Todoroki. Do I even need to explain what you did wrong?”

Izuku wasn’t able to see his classmate’s reaction since he sat in the column next to his and a row behind, but from the silence and lack of response, it didn’t leave much to the imagination.

“You were arrogant,” Mr Aizawa stated, his eyes narrowing into a full teacher's glare. “And what’s even worse was that you were meant to be playing the role of a hero. Rather than enter the building with your teammate, you went in alone, acting as if it were a simple stroll. You didn’t account for the idea that the attack might have failed, or that maybe one of the villains had a quirk that could counter it, like what happened. That attitude is unacceptable in this school and more importantly in my class. I refuse to let such a reckless, arrogant mindset graduate with a hero license. Is that clear?”

Once more, there was silence.

“I asked you a question, Todoroki,” Mr Aizawa pressed, his eyes glowing red and his hair floating in the air as Izuku felt the chill of One For All being suppressed within him. “I expect an answer.”

There was silence for a brief period before a “Crystal, sir,” was bitten out by Todoroki.

“Don’t think for a second that you’re somehow better than any of your classmates, Todoroki,” Mr Aizawa scowled. “I can and will expel you from this school in a heartbeat, regardless of who your father is. So shape up, or ship out. You have so much potential, and you're wasting it.”

The room was silent, no one daring to speak up after that dressing down.

“Now, on to homeroom business,” Mr Aizawa said, turning his attention towards the class as a whole. “Sorry for the sudden announcement, but today…”

‘What is it?’ Izuku panicked in his head as Mr Aizawa let the silence stretch on. ‘Another quirk test? A brutal pop quiz?!’

“…you’ll pick a class president.”

“Such a normal, school-like thing!” many students in the class cheered, the tense atmosphere vanishing like fog in the sunlight. Many of his classmates began calling out, asking to be chosen as the class president. Even Kacchan was getting into it, raising his hand as high as it would go.

“Quiet down, everyone!” Ida’s voice exclaimed, cutting through the noise and silencing it, drawing all eyes to him. “Leading the many is a task of heavy responsibility. But ambition does not equate to ability! This sacred office demands the trust of its constituents. If this is to be a democracy, then I put forward the motion that our true leader must be chosen by election!”

His earnest, serious declaration was slightly marred by the fact that Ida’s arm was also held up as high into the air as it would go.

“But Ida, we haven’t known each other long enough to build any trust,” Asui pointed out.

“And everyone’ll just vote for themselves!” Kirishima added.

“That’s precisely why anyone who manages to earn multiple votes will be the best suited individual for the job!” Ida argued. 

“It also goes to show the kinda networking someone’s able to do in just one day if they’re able to get others to vote for them,” Yamada added from her seat behind Izuku.

“Y-Yes, and there’s that,” Ida reluctantly admitted, clearly irritated by what Izuku assumed was his rival’s words. However, he quickly rallied, turning to face their teacher. “Will you allow this, sir?!”

“However you do it, just make it quick,” Mr Aizawa mumbled, already tucked away in the corner inside his yellow sleeping bag.

“Very well!” Ida declared, turning back to face the class once more. “I have brought reams of paper, so I shall hand out a page to each classmate. We shall write our chosen candidate on them, place them inside a box, shuffle them around to ensure anonymity, and then tally up the results!”

And this is what he did. Going from table to table, Ida handed a sheet of paper to each of his classmates before placing an empty box on top of the class podium. One by one the class came forward, placing their folded pieces of paper inside. Once this was done, Mr Aizawa got back up, taking the box and looking at all of the results, marking them down as he did so. Once this was done, he began writing names on the board with the number of votes, starting with those who had no votes, and ending with those who had the most.

Izuku noted with interest as Ida, Uraraka, Sato, Todoroki, Hagakure, and Yamada were all revealed to have no votes to their name. He watched with amazement as Aoyama, Ashido, Asui, Kaminari, Kirishima, Koda, Shoji, Jiro, Tokoyami, Bakugo, and Mineta all had one vote. This wasn’t because he was surprised they voted for him, but rather that Izuku wasn’t among the list.

‘So the only ones who haven’t been listed so far are myself, Vance, and Yaoyorozu,’ Izuku realised as Mr Aizawa began writing the last of the three names. ‘So if multiple people voted for me, where am I placed?’

As it would turn out, it was second; two votes for Yaoyorozu, three votes for Midoriya, and four votes for Vance.

“I got three votes?!” Izuku exclaimed in equal parts shock and awe.

“What the!” Kacchan exclaimed, his attention fortunately on the board rather than Izuku himself. “Who the hell voted for Deku?!”

“Zero votes,” Izuku overheard Ida mutter in shock and grief. “I thought as much. This is the harsh reality of this sacred office.”

“So you voted for someone else?” Yaoyorozu asked.

“You’re the one who proposed an election,” Sato added. “What exactly do you want, Ida?”

“Well colour me surprised,” Yamada exclaimed with sarcasm. “I guess there is room in your mechanical heart for someone else to lead.”

“Shut it, Yamada,” Ida said through gritted teeth. “You have the same results as I do.”

“Yeah, I can read,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “I voted for someone else, dummy. No way am I being chained down by some hoity-toity role.”

“Moving on,” Mr Aizawa called out, swiftly ending the impending argument. “Your president is Vance and your vice-president is Midoriya. The two of you, come on up.”

‘Well, at least I’m not the president,’ Izuku thought to himself as he shook in front of the class, unnerved by the attention he was receiving, even if Vance, who was standing next to him, was sharing that burden. ‘But I only thought it was a pipedream.’

“I know Midoriya’s got the right stuff for this!” Uraraka called out, flashing him a thumbs up.

“And Vance was able to turn our battle around really quickly!” Hagakure added, the ends of her sleeves up by her chest in what Izuku could only assume was a supportive posture. “So he can easily lead our class too!”

-]l[-

“Guys. I don’t think I can do this.”

Tenya looked up from his meal, a curry with plenty of oranges as part of it, seeing the worry plastered on Midoriya’s face.

“I’m just a little worried about whether or not I can really be part of the class leadership team, even as a vice president.”

“You can,” Uraraka simply said, happily digging into her bowl of rice.

“Worry not, Midoriya,” Tenya chimed in. “Your grit and decisiveness in a pinch make you perfectly suited to help lead us all. That’s why I voted for you.”

“Shit, really?!” a voice called out, one that Tenya immediately recognised, unfortunately. The group turned their heads, watching as Yamada walked over, with Sato, Hagakure, and Vance all following her. They each carried a tray of food, though Tenya noticed with no small level of disapproval that Yamada’s tray seemed almost entirely filled with fried chicken.

“Well damn, Ida. I knew you’d swallowed your pride to vote for someone else, but I never expected it to be Midoriya,” Yamada continued, sliding in next to Izuku without asking for permission.

“Oo, what’s everyone got for lunch?!” Hagakure excitedly asked, dragging Vance over with her when she sat down next to Uraraka, leaning into him in an entirely unprofessional manner unfitting for a school setting. “Curry for Ida, katsudon for Midoriya, and…Uraraka, is that a bowl of plain rice?”

“Yeah, it’s really tasty with these veggies,” his classmate eagerly explained. “Want some?”

“No, thank you,” Vance declined. “I’ve never really been much of a fan of rice anyway to be honest.”

“More for me,” Uraraka shrugged.

“So, who’d you guys vote for?” Sato asked, taking his seat next to Yamada. “I mean, you voted for Midoriya, Ida, and I assume you voted for yourself, Midoriya?”

“Yeah,” Midoriya nodded. “I honestly wasn’t expecting to get more than one vote.”

“Well, you’d have gotten at least two, because I voted for you as well,” Uraraka chirped, causing Midoriya’s face to suddenly turn red.

“Y-You d-did?” 

“Midoriya, are you alright?” Tenya asked. “Have you suddenly come down with a fever? Is the meal not to your stomach’s liking?”

“I don’t think that’s the reason, Ida,” Yamada snickered.

“I gotta say though, Vance, it’s incredible you got four votes!” Uraraka continued. “Obviously you voted for yourself, but do you have any idea who else?”
“We all voted for him,” Hagakure freely admitted, leaning her head on Vance’s shoulder. “I was gonna anyway, since he was a great leader during our Battle Trial.”

“I didn’t have any real desire to be a leader, nor did Yamada, so we decided to give it to Vance since Hagakure was singing his praises,” Sato added. 

“You didn’t wish to be class president, Yamada?” Tenya asked with genuine surprise.

“Hell no,” Yamada shuddered, as if the idea of having such a prestigious rank was horrifying to her, not that it would surprise him. “But all jokes aside, I genuinely expected you to vote for yourself. I mean, like Sato said back in class, you did propose the voting system.”

“Ambition and suitability are two different matters,” Tenya admitted. “Though I would have loved nothing more than to be given the position, I humbly made the choice I thought was the right one.”

“Humbly?” Midoriya and Uraraka both echoed, but while Midoriya remained confused, excited spread across Uraraka’s face.

“The way you talk,” she muttered to herself before looking at him with starstruck eyes. “Hey, Ida, are you a rich kid?”

“Ah, well, I don’t like people to know, so I try to hide it, but yes. Mine is a renowned hero family. And I am the second son.”

“Woah, cool!” Uraraka gushed, her eyes flicking across the table. “So you, Yamada, and Sato all come from hero families! Wow, I know lots of rich people.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Yamada interjected. “Ida’s folks are loaded, sure, but mine and Sato’s aren’t. Dad’s a solo act who doesn’t even have an agency of his own.”

“And Pops operates out of our bakery,” Sato added. 

“So which hero family are you a part of, Ida?” Hagakure asked.

“Do you know of the Turbo Hero: Ingenium?”

“Of course!” Midoriya exclaimed. “He employs sixty-five sidekicks at his office in Tokyo!”

“How very, informed,” Tenya settled on.

“Bordering on creepy there, Midoriya,” Hagakure nervously chuckled.

“Sorry,” his friend blushed. “Hero trivia is kind of my hobby. But if you’re related to Ingenium, that means he’s…”

“My older brother!” Tenya proudly declared, pushing up his glasses and puffing out his chest. “He leads the people with his unwavering adherence to rules and regulations. A truly beloved hero!” 

“Pretty much the exact opposite of my old man,” Yamada added, though fitting for someone so uncivilised she said it with an air of pride.

“Ah yes, remind me, Yamada, how many times have you been arrested for breaking the quirk restriction laws?”

“Fourty-seven,” she grinned before looping her arm around Sato’s neck and pulling him into her side. “And Sato here is my accomplice with sixteen.”

“It would have been half that if you listened to me more often,” he mumbled, though he didn’t seem displeased with his disregard for rules.

“Wait, but wouldn’t Present Mic be angry with you breaking quirk laws?” Uraraka asked. “After all, he’s a teacher here.”

Yamada merely smirked. “Who'd you think taught me how to?”

Not only did Tenya’s jaw drop, but so too did Midoriya’s, Uraraka’s, and Vance’s. He couldn’t tell if Hagakure was also shocked, but Sato seemed to be the only one who had been in the know.

“B-But he’s a teacher at a hero academy,” Midoriya stammered. 

“Uhuh, and guess where he gained that ideology?”

Tenya could visibly see the blue screen that Midoriya experienced, something that he was feeling himself.

“My father has no love for the quirk restriction laws and turns a blind eye to anyone who breaks it without malicious intent. My uncle actively despises the laws, since he’s seen first hand all the harm it creates, especially for those who live in the slums of the Twelve Cities, and my aunt’s apparently always bucked against any laws, so what’s one more? And all of them are alumni of U.A.”

“Many people see U.A. and only read about the top heroes that graduate from here, but not many realise just how little attention in class is paid towards quirk laws,” Sato continued. “Aside from the legal minimum, it’s never taught here.”

“And the disregard for the quirk restriction laws are encouraged by the school thanks to students being allowed to freely use their quirks, so long as it doesn’t harm property or persons.”

“Oh, so that’s how you used your quirk this morning and no teachers came running,” Hagakure realised.

“So yeah, Principal Nezu all but encourages students here to disregard the majority of the quirk restriction laws, which is why I’m surprised you're attending, Ida,” Yamada continued. “Why didn’t you go to Seiai Academy? Sure, they separate guys and girls after that one disaster of a school sleepover a few years back, but it’s in Tokyo, so basically no travel time.”

“Because I admire my brother, and wish to be as good of a hero as he, if not better,” Tenya answered with a small smile, idly realising this was the most civil of a conversation he’d had with Yamada. “U.A., even if it might be less refined as I’d imagined, is still considered one of the greatest hero schools in Japan, and is certainly within the top echelons across the world. So it only made sense to go where I had the highest chance of improving myself.”

The table was momentarily silent, the noise of the cafeteria surrounding them before Uraraka giggled.

“Never seen you smile before, Ida.”

“Eh? I smile on occasion!”

“Nope, never seen a smile on your face,” Yamada teased. “Always a resting grouch face, or a look of contentment on a good day.”

“I could have sworn I smiled at-”

VREEE

“An alarm?!” Midoriya exclaimed in shock, shooting up from his seat just as the rest at their table did so.

“Security level three has been broken,” a voice stated over the school intercom. “All students, please evacuate in an orderly manner.”

“What’s security level three?!” Tenya loudly asked a nearby upperclassman.

“It means someone’s infiltrated the building!” he replied as he rushed past them. “Hasn’t happened in my three years here! Anyway, hurry up and get outta here!”

Tenya and his classmates were quick to follow the instructions, but so too was every other student in the cafeteria, and none of them moved in an orderly manner. While this might have been manageable, the corridor the students rushed through to the exit was much too narrow, creating a bottleneck of students.

“Ow, ow!”

“Stop shoving!” 

“Wait, I’m gonna fall!”

“I said quit pushing!”

“Oww! What’s going on?!” Uraraka exclaimed as a student’s shoulder was pushed into her, pushing her up against Midoriya.

“Such a rapid response to danger! I’d expect no less from this great institution!” Tenya replied, his height giving him a slight reprieve and mercifully sparing his glasses.

“This isn’t a response, Ida, this is a panic!” Yamada called out. Tenya risked a glance in her direction, seeing how she, Sato and Vance were protecting Hagakure, who due to her invisible nature was probably the most likely to be overlooked and accidentally hurt.

“Oof, I’m going down!” Midoriya cried out, a jostle from a student separating him and Uraraka.

“Deku!” the girl cried out, only to be swept away by the tide of students.

“Who could have infiltrated?” Tenya asked himself, promptly being shoved up against one of the large floor to ceiling windows in the corridor. And what he saw outside was the answer to the question he had asked. “The press?!” 

Indeed, a large group of reporters, the same ones who had navigated through the Wastelands and Outlands before setting themselves up outside the U.A. gates, were currently at the entrance to the U.A. main building, only being held back by Mr Aizawa and Present Mic.

“There’s no danger, it’s just the media!” Tenya called out, but despite his best wishes, his words went unheeded, either because people didn’t hear him or didn’t care. “Everyone, calm d-yowch!”

‘Where are the teachers?!’ Tenya thought to himself, watching as Kaminari and Kirishima were swept past him. ‘No one knows there’s no cause for alarm! They’ve all fallen into a panic, just like Yamada said.’

“Back off!” he heard Yamada shout, seeing her and her group still desperately trying to protect Hagakure, who at this point was being carried by Vance.

‘What would Midoriya do?’ Tenya wondered, remembering the bravery of his friend during the Entrance Exam. ‘Or my brother? What would they do at a time like this?’

A memory of a conversation between Tenya and Tensei, his older brother, appeared in his mind. It was a few years ago, at a point when Tenya was curious about the inner workings of his brother’s agency. 

“The reason I’m so effective is that I have a lot of people in my agency to help me,” his brother had answered him with a grin. “I’m not always suited for every scenario, but because they’re able to help me in areas I’m weak, I’m able to save a lot of people thanks to them!”

‘Help from someone else,’ Tenya thought, a metaphorical lightbulb going off in his mind. ‘That’s it!’

“Yamada!” Tenya shouted. “It’s the press!”

“What the?!” she exclaimed, her group coming closer to him, pushing through the crowd. “What am I meant to do about it?!”

“I need you to create a portal in front of your father and above the students! His Voice quirk can cut through this panic!”

“I can’t just punch out the glass! With all this pressure, people are gonna get shoved through it!”

“Your quirk fires off light, yes?! Windows are transparent!”

Tenya watched in real time as Yamada’s eyes widened in realisation. Her arm shot out, orange light from her right hand creating a portal on a pillar near Present Mic while blue light from her left hand created a portal above the Exit sign ahead of them. But despite the connection, Present Mic didn’t notice the portal, surrounded by the shouting and demands of the media. That was, however, before Chell cried out.

“DAD!”

Immediately, Present Mic’s head whipped around, instantly seeing both the portal to his side as well as the chaos seen through it. Tenya watched through the window as Present Mic rushed over, bracing himself on the edges of the portal, and when he looked up above the doorway, he saw the Pro Hero leaning into the hallway.

“LISTEN UP!!”

The Voice Hero’s shout immediately halted all movement in the hallway, every student frozen and staring in shock up at the Pro Hero as he leaned through a hole in the wall.

“Hey hey, little listeners!” Present Mic said, speaking in a loud but no longer amplified voice. “No need for all this panic, yeah?! There aren't any villains or dangerous creatures attacking U.A., just the press! The most they’ll do is bore you to tears with their questions! So exit in an orderly, calm, manner, kapish?!” 

The student body gave a smattering of acknowledgement, the mass moving forward once more, but time in a controlled manner under the watchful gaze of Present Mic.

“Hey, Ida?” Yamada said to him, pausing for a moment with a conflicted expression before it melted away as she sighed. “Good thinking. Your brother would be proud.”

Tenya’s eyes widened as he watched Yamada walk away with her friends. While the idea of his brother being proud of his decision was certainly heartwarming, what really surprised him was Yamada’s words. There was no love lost between them, holding opposing world views and clashing more times than they could count. However, against all his assumptions, Yamada complimented his plan.

“How curious,” Tenya muttered to himself as he joined the crowd. However, what he wasn’t aware of was a mop of green hair look his way before hurrying off after Yamada and her friends.

-]l[-

“Vance!”

Eli turned around, seeing Midoriya run over to him and his friends. Meeting them all had truly been fortunate, as he’d been worried about whether he’d be able to make friends in this new environment. 

“Midoriya, I’m glad to see you uninjured,” Eli smiled. “I saw you get swept away.”

“Yeah, lucky me,” the green-haired boy chuckled. “Um, can I talk to you in private? Class president stuff, you know.”

“Oh, um, sure,” Eli nodded, following after him while waving goodbye to his friends. “I’ll see you all at class.”

They walked for a short distance before Midoriya came to a stop in an empty section of the school corridors.

“So, what did you wish to talk about, Midoriya?”

Midoriya hesitated, clearly struggling to find the right words.

“I think that Ida is better suited for my position.”

Eli’s eyes widened. “Being class president is a really prestigious role in Japan, right? So why would you want to give it up so soon?”

“I saw how he managed to find a way to calm everyone down,” Midoriya explained. “I just think he’d serve the class better if he were the vice president rather than me.”

“Midoriya,” Eli began, a worried expression on his face. “Is this because you’re scared about having this responsibility?”

His classmate’s silence was damning.

“Just because you’re afraid of a duty, it doesn’t mean it isn’t yours to uphold. I’m fated to do something that I’m terrified of, and if it were possible, I’d be tempted to avoid it myself. But I have the responsibility and I can’t get rid of it, because it’s mine to carry. Being scared of something new is completely normal. And this is only the second day; we haven’t even had to perform any duties yet.”

“Really?” Midoriya asked with wide eyes.

“Midoriya, you got three votes; yourself, Uraraka, and Ida, correct?” 

Midoriya nodded.

“So trust that they made the right decision in voting for you. Try to have faith in yourself like they have faith in you.”

Midoriya sniffled, rubbing away tears in his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket. “Thanks, Vance. And, um, I think you’ll be a great class president.”

“No worries, Midoriya,” Eli chuckled, slapping Midoriya's shoulder playfully. “C’mon, Mr Aizawa will probably be the least tolerant of us being late out of everyone else.”