-Chapter 13: Dealing With the Consequences-
The following twenty-four hours were a blur for Ben. One minute he awoke with a blush on his face when he realized he had fallen asleep on Mina's shoulder. The next he was interrogated by police before being whisked away to a hospital. When the green-clad teen entered the hospital room he was confused as to who he was looking at before he noticed the tangled black hair. The being that looked more like a mummy with his arms in casts was his guardian, Shota Aizawa. Ben's focus was lost when he saw the bandages around Shota's face start to redden. When he regained his focus he was sitting on a couch with a smoothie and a plate of chili fries on the coffee table in front of him.
Looking around the room Ben realized that he wasn't in Aizawa's apartment instead, he was at Hizashi's place. "Wait, how did I get here?" Ben thought to himself before he saw the surprisingly quiet blonde round the corner. "Hey, Hizashi what happened?"
With a sigh of relief, Hizashi answers Ben's question by saying "Thank god you finally snapped out of that. After the um, incident yesterday I took you to the hospital where Sho was being treated. When we got there you sorta looked out of it, but when you saw him you sorta shut down. With Sho being in the hospital overnight and you being out of it I took you home to make sure you were ok. I figured after a night's rest you would be fine but from what I could tell from the moment I guided you to sit on the couch yesterday to right now you haven't moved. I was just about to call the school to call you out of your classes tomorrow." the pro said holding his phone
"Oh," was all Ben could say for a moment before several questions came to mind. "What happened to the rest of the class? What happened to the villains? How is Shota doing?" the teen blurted out in quick succession.
"Ben, calm down the class is fine. The school made sure that your class got today off to make sure you guys had a day to calm down and relax." Hizashi said answering the first question "Shota is doing alright. He had a few broken ribs, a shattered arm, along with both eye sockets cracked but that's nothing for Recovery Girl and a day's rest can't handle." The sound user then gets an uneasy look to him. "We could only apprehend seventy-two of the seventy-four villains that attacked the school. We had a hard time finding the one you defeated though. When the students told us what you did Principal Nezu calculated that you threw the villain to Hiroshima. When we found him he was unconscious. I guess you over-taxed his regeneration ability when you pummeled him. I've gotta make a phone call real quick. I will be right back."
With that said the blonde hero walked into the other room leaving Ben to his thoughts.
"At least I didn't kill the guy." Ben thought before looking back on the one-sided fight. Moments before Ben transformed into Way Big he could have sworn he saw him, the golden gauntlet holding his loved one's head, the deep cackling in rejoicing over breaking Ben's resolve, the large muscular frame blocking the flames of his destroyed home.
"Tennyson," started the voice of the beast "Tennyson, Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben!" The Omnitrix wielder was pulled out of his thoughts by a much nicer voice.
When the teen looked over to his left a figure was sitting next to him on the couch. Her unique eyes drew his attention. "Mina? What are you doing here?"
"We came here to make sure you are ok."
"We?" questioned Ben before looking to his right to see several of his classmates standing by the entrance taking their shoes off.
"Of course we. Do you think we wouldn't all be here to help out our bud!?" Declared Kirishima
"We brought snacks!" called out an energetic Uraraka holding up two grocery bags filled with chips, candy, and other snack items.
"Iida, Asui, and I are here too," Midoriya said walking into the room behind the gravity user.
"I said call me Tsu," ribbited the frog girl
"Guys I appreciate that you are here but how did you guys know where I was?" Ben questions the group
"Present Mic called our parents about an hour ago." Uraraka started
"He told them that ever since y-yesterday y-you have." Midoriya tried finding the right words
"You have been in your own world not talking, eating, or reacting to things happening around you." Tsu continued
"He figured that being around your friends would help you feel better," Iida says chopping the air in front of him.
Ashido then hugged Ben, "We came as quickly as we could to make sure you were ok."
"I-I don't know what to say" Ben mutters as he returns the hug
"How about let's game!" Kirishima declares holding up some controllers.
The seven teens then took turns playing a plethora of video games for the next couple of hours. The only games Hizashi had on hand were some racing games and an arcade-style fighter. Some were better than others but everyone was having a good time. Tsu and Uraraka were often tied with Iida in last place. The duo told the group that they were bad at gaming while Iida was adamant that he was good but his rigid movements telegraph what he was doing too well. Kirishima was a bit better than Iida but admits he spends more time working out than gaming. Midoriya, Ashido, and Ben were all fighting for the top spot.
"Yes!" Ben jumped up with his controller in his hand. "Another opponent has been defeated!"
"Way to go Ben you had me going for a while," Ashido commented. "Midoriya you did pretty well too.
"T-thank you, I didn't have many friends growing up so I would play a lot of video games." The greenette stammered.
"At least you have us now!" Uraraka called out scooting closer to Midoriya on the half seat the two shared.
"Yeah having a good group of friends can get anyone through anything!" Kirishima declared looking at the nervous teen before glancing over to the Omnitrix wielder.
"Thank you guys for being here. I don't know what I would do if you guys weren't here."
"You would still be starting into the table," Tsu bluntly stated "If you don't mind me asking but you mentioned that yesterday wasn't your first time handling villains."
With that comment, both Ashido and Kirishima made eye contact with each other before looking nervously at Ben. The Omnitrix wielder's right hand twitched ever so slightly toward the powerful device.
Taking a deep breath Ben sits down resting his elbow on his knee before cupping the left side of his face and covering his eye "When I was back home in America my Grandpa and cousin would go on a yearly road trip across states. Right before the last trip, I was given the Omnitrix, my support item, from a support company that would supply Grandpa Max with his gear. To celebrate me being able to truly able to use my quirk without hurting myself the entire family joined the trip along with some close friends of mine.
Everything was fine, I would test my new abilities whenever we would stop and everyone was having a good time. Things changed though about a week in. We were all camping before the grounds started to be bombarded with ranged attacks. Grandpa told me to guide the civilians to safety while he and everyone else covered our retreat." Ben then began to clinch his fist whiting his knuckles. "I should have stayed back to help them. By the time I got back to the group, it was a blood bath. The villain was ready for my family to attack him.
Turns out he was Grandpa Max's greatest foe. The man, no monster was in hiding for over four decades scheming and planning to eliminate everyone close to the family. When I got back I was helpless in stopping the carnage. I just wish I could have done something! DAMN IT!" Ben cries out slamming his left fist onto the arm of the couch. His left eye is twitching like mad.
"Ben I think you are not telling us everything," Mina says resting her hand on the troubled teen's shoulder. "First, you said that you won't take her this time, but you saved Mr. Aizawa. Secondly, your left eye is twitching again. The six of us may have just met each other but I noticed your eye only twitches when you lie."
"I-I don't know what you are talking about." Ben stammers his left eye twitching once again.
"See it just happened again!" the Pinkette calls out pointing at his eye. "Tell us everything, you dork. We are all here to make sure you are ok."
"You want everything? Well here is everything. I watched it decapitate my girlfriend in front of me. Nomu has the same body type as him so seeing Nomu holding Shota by his hair reminded me too much of the monster holding Kai's hair forcing her neck to be shown. The sword he carried was one of a kind, designed to adapt to who it cuts down.
Knowing I was the last one to be killed he tossed her head to me letting it roll to my feet." Ben's eyes now have a distant look to them, he is no longer looking at the coffee table in front of him but at the corpses of everyone he holds dear. The boy's eyes then begin to tear up before he wipes them away and leaves his hand over his left eye. "My parents and Grandpa Max left me with everything they had. I wanted to follow in Grandpa's footsteps to become a hero so I went to where to best heroes are made, U.A."
Ashido grabs Ben's hands before looking into his eyes. "I'm sorry about your loss Ben. I can't imagine the amount of grief you must have gone through."
"Man you have to be manly to survive an encounter like that!" Kirishima calls out
"Actually, I was wondering. If the villain had a weapon that could strike down anyone how did you escape?" Asked the analytical Midoriya.
"I didn't escape, I-I transformed into three aliens from what I call my powerhouse playlist. Gravattack, Atomix, and Way Big these three are some of my strongest forms. You all saw how powerful one of those forms are yesterday with Way Big."
"If you don't mind me asking but what are those forms capable of?"
"Gravattack is a large rocky form with gravikinesis. Uraraka you can only negate the effects of gravity right?"
"Yeah, I can cancel gravity and reapply it."
"I can do the same but I can also increase the force of gravity along with making a personal field. Atomix is a form that changes my personality."
"Like how Rath makes you angry and stupid?" asked Kirishima
"Not quite it makes me feel more righteous, and more like a comic book hero. Atomix is also my third strongest form being a walking nuclear reactor."
"How are you able to have so many strong forms?" asked Iida
"I have a unique lineage and let us leave it at that. I'm assuming I don't have to tell you guys what Way Big is capable of."
"No, you don't but I have to ask is Way Big your strongest transformation?" Asked Iida
"I would rank Way Big as my second strongest form. Number one would be Alien X. That form would do more harm than good if I were to use it, so I would only go, Alien X, only if I absolutely had to."
"The villain that killed your family, I'm assuming that you killed him?" Midoriya asked before cutting himself off "Not saying you would kill people willy nilly or anything it's just I can't imagine anyone surviving an onslaught against that many powerful forms."
"No, that bastard was able to survive my attacks. In fact, he was able to hold back Way Big's fingers before I threw him away."
"How is there someone that strong? Not even Nomu was able to withstand Way Big's strength and Nomu was supposed to be able to fight All Might."
"Now you understand why I call him a monster. Grandpa told me before his villain went into hiding the bastard was once strapped to a nuclear warhead before it exploded."
The group of students was dumbfounded but that statement. All of them were trying to figure out how a single human was capable of surviving a blast of that magnitude.
A knock in the doorway snaps the group out of their thoughts. "I'm sorry to intrude but there is someone else here to see you, Ben," Hizashi says standing in the doorway.
"Who else could be here? I only talk to you guys?" Ben questions looking at his friends
"I AM HERE!" came a bellowing voice.
"ALL MIGHT!" the group of seven students called out in surprise.
"I am so sorry for intruding on your group's night of relaxation. I have spent most of today going from home to home of your fellow students to check on how you are handling things considering yesterday."
"I guess that makes sense All Might. Thank you for checking in on us. My friends and I were just hanging out. It's the first time we had a chance to be kids since the start of the school year."
"No, I must thank you. I failed to be at the USJ on time. If I was there when the villains arrived none of you would have faced live combat in their first week of school." All Might says giving the group a deep bow. When the hero stands back up he addresses the American in the room. "Young Tennyson I am impressed with your strength. From the reports from the other students the villain you defeated was bioengineered to kill me and you were able to stop it with a single strike."
"Yeah, I went a little overboard against Nomu. The only reason why it's still alive is due to its regeneration. I didn't get to tell the police this but I believe it had a third quirk. Even though I broke the villain's body there was a moment with my first strike where it felt like it absorbed the force of my attack before I reached its limit."
"Interesting," Midoriya spoke without thinking. "If the villain was engineered to defeat All Might it would absorb All Might's attacks, and strike back with equal force and rapidly heal any damage that might be caused by a separate target who could deal damage differently like being cut or burned."
"Wow Deku you are always thinking about quirks. I can't even imagine the amount of information floating around in your head." Uraraka expressed her thoughts while gazing at the greenette.
"Oh, it's nothing it's a hobby of mine to study quirks." Midoriya stammered out blushing at the attention he was getting from the opposite sex. "I've actually started making notebooks for everyone in the class."
"Ah, Young Midoriya I would love to see those notebooks. It may make my job a little easier when designing assignments for you all. Ha ha ha!" The Symbol of Peace guffawed at the student's antics. "Well if all of you are doing well I will take my leave. See you all back in class."
"See you back in class All Might." the students all say back to their teacher.
After All Might left the group of friends they all went back to their games, joking a fooling around like they didn't just fight for their lives yesterday. A stray thought had entered one of their heads shortly after they got back to their games.
"Hey Izuku, you said that you were making notebooks for everyone in the class. What do you have on my aliens? Asked Ben
"Oh well, I've only seen eleven of your aliens but going off of what I've seen I'm going to fill up three notebooks just with your form."
"I'm not surprised. Right now I have sixty-two forms if that helps with spacing out the pages."
"SIXTY-TWO!" Ben's friends call out
"How do you have so many forms?" Asked Uraraka
"My quirk naturally tries to make forms for me at random times, or when I'm stressed those forms are painful and grotesque so my support item filters the forms and makes them easier to use."
"That is amazing! Can we see some? I remember when we met at the coffee shop and you mentioned a form that could use acid. Can you transform into it?" Ashido asked enthusiastically creeping into Ben's personal bubble.
"Um sure Mina, I can do that." The green-clad teen said trying to step back to trip over the coffee table and knocking over his smoothie. "Ah, shit! These were my favorite pants too."
This stumble sent the group into a fit of laughter.
"Har har. Glad to see my suffering can make someone happy." Said Ben in false annoyance "Let me transform and everything should be fine." After activating the Omnitrix and finding the correct head icon the otherworldy classmate was covered in a familiar blinding light. In the teen's place was a humanoid made out of green slime. There is a UFO-like device hovering above his head, instead of the device following the body it is the inverse. "Goop!" The newly transformed Polymorph called out in a slightly staticky voice striking a typical powerup pose.
"Holy crap! This dude is incredible." Ashido calls out walking around the alien to get a better look. Due to this new form's body being slime, the pinkette could slightly see through it.
The rest of the group was in awe at this new form. Everyone was in awe asking several questions a minute except for who you would expect. Midoriya instead of having wonder in his eyes due to learning more about a quirk the boy had fear.
Memories of that day when he first met All Might came flooding to him. Sadly none of the good ones of that day. He remembers the feeling of the sludge villain crawling down his throat came back. The greenette's hand started to rub the front of his neck absent-mindedly.
"Hey Green, you ok?" Asked a concerned Ben
"Oh um, I have a bad history with slime body quirks."
"I remember reading about a slime villain attacking some students shortly after I moved here. Was that you?"
"Yeah, that incident had Kaachan and me at the center of it. It was the same day I learned I had a quirk."
"Wait you didn't know you had a quirk?" asked Kirishima "I thought with power like that you would have been training for years."
"Sadly I was unaware of my quirk. For my entire life, I have been building up and storing energy subconsciously it took years to learn to release it finally. I was attacked by the villain on my way home from school. He wanted to use my body as a puppet by drowning me with his slime. Right before I passed out All Might saved me. He apprehended the villain but due to me wanting to ask him questions he forgot to properly secure the bottles, he held the sludge villain in so, when he jumped away the bottles fell out over the city. At some point, the villain escaped the bottles and went on a rampage he ended up capturing Kaachan and using his quirk to cause damage. I ended up charging head-first into the chaos before All Might saved the two of us. Later that day when the adrenaline wore off I accidentally broke my door."
Transforming back to normal Ben grabbed hold of his friend's shoulder. "What you did was amazing Izuku. You acted on instinct like a true hero and were rewarded for your actions."
"Thank you, Ben, I haven't told anyone about what happened that day and it feels better now that I have it off my chest."
"Same here, I've yet to tell you guys everything about the day my family die-passed but I have told you more tonight than I have told anyone else in the last year."
"Happy to hear that we were able to help out the Changeling of 1-A," Kirishima called out activating his quirk in his arm as he fist pumps.
"Changeling?"
"Yeah, people around school heard that you have more forms than anyone has ever seen and they started calling you the Changling."
"It's not the worst I have been called. I like the ring of it."
Not too long later Tsu, Iida, and Uraraka went home due to how late it was. Kirishima, Ashido, and Midoriya on the other hand chose to stay a little longer. The remaining students decided against playing any more games in favor of just hanging out.
"Ben I'm happy that you were able to tell us about what happened to your family," Ashido says as she places her hand on Ben's arm just above the Omnitrix. "I think it's great that there are no secrets in our group."
With that comment, both of the green-themed boys mutter "Yeah, no secrets." without the other noticing.
Wanting to change topics Ben starts walking towards the front door. "If we really want no secrets between everyone I have something to show you guys."
The four students made their way to the street where they saw a black sports car with green accents down the sides. On the hub caps, there was the symbol of the Omnitrix on it. Using the Omnitrix the car comes to life with the roar of the engine taking the Japanese natives by surprise.
"Guys meet the DX Mark 10, a car designed by one of my best friends and funded by my grandfather."
"That is amazing! Dude how fast can it go?" Kirishima asks in awe of the car. "When did you get it?
"This car was supposed to be a sixteenth birthday present by both of them but sadly they couldn't see that day. When I moved I was given the gift early. They wanted to make sure no one could steal it so the only way for the car to start or even be unlocked is by using the Omnitrix."
"That is fascinating. The support company that made your item must be very advanced in order to have it do so many things." Midoriya started muttering but everything else he said was lost on the group.
"Want to go for a spin? I can take you guys home." Ben asks with a smirk on his face.
After dropping off both Midoriya and Kirishima Ben was on his way to Ashido's home.
"When we get to my house can you come inside I want you to meet my family," Ashido asks
"Wait?! WHAT?!" Ben loses control of the car only for a moment before straightening out the vehicle. "Why would you want me to meet your family?"
"Because after losing yours I think it would be nice for you to be able to find comfort in another."
"There is no need. I think I already found my family. You and the rest of the group did not need to come and help me but everyone came to make sure I was ok. Thank you for coming. If you guys didn't help I probably would still be starting into a cold plate of chili fries."
"I mean it's nothing I just wanted to help out a friend same as the others. I figured if I were in the same situation as you, you'd be there for me." Ashido smiles
On the other side of town in a run-down bar, there were only two occupants. The first was a strange-looking man made from a black cloud wearing a suit. The other was a young adult with several dismembered hands covering his body.
"I don't understand why Master wants me to start studying those 1-A brats. It's just the shapeshifter I should worry about. The other students besides Endeavor's brat shouldn't be a problem." Shigaraki stated in annoyance while typing away at a laptop on the bar counter.
"From what I understand Tomura the Master wants you to be prepared for any possibility. Plus he has put so much effort into acquiring this information it would be wrong to just throw it away."
"You are right might as well look into what he got for us." with a couple of clicks the screen changes. "Tennyson? Such an interesting name and an American too. That item, how interesting." The villain then starts chuckling to himself.
Chapter 14
-Back to School-
The first day back to class was interesting, to say the least. Hizashi was taking up the reins of making sure Ben was able to get ready for school. Instead of heading straight for the classroom, the teacher told Ben to wait in the courtyard for his friends because he had to head to the main office for a bit. Iida was the first one to show up as expected. The bespectacled boy was followed by Tsu and Kirishima. The two of them had pastries in hand, they must have stopped at the coffee shop just outside of school for breakfast. Uraraka and Midoriya eventually make their way through the main gate of the school with the green-haired boy looking like a tomato with how hard he was blushing. Ashido was the last one to make it with what looks like a black box.
"Guys! Guys! I spent all night looking for this!" The pink-skinned student showed the group a black box revealing it to be a VHS tape that showed only one word, ALIENS, "I loved this movie growing up and I figured this weekend we could watch this all together."
"That sounds like a lot of fun," Ben said looking at the tape. "After everything I've seen this movie franchise is interesting."
"Oh, how so?" Asked Uraraka
"Well back home ali-, I mean people tended to have mutant-type quirks so seeing freaky humanoids aren't out of the norm."
"Movies from the prequirk days were so creative." Midoriya mentioned "There are several pros in the early days that were inspired by movies to become heroes. Iron Leagon, The Captian, Black Night, Aracnid, and the Scarlet Speedster to name a few."
"I remember reading about the Scarlet Speedster." Iida mentions leading the group into the large elevator that leads to the first-year classes, "He was the first person to break the sound barrier without the use of a support item."
"It's crazy to think that before quirks came to be feats like that sounded impossible. Kero." Croaked Tsu
The group of students made their way down the hallways getting stares from the other students, mainly the general ed kids.
"Anyone feel like they are angry with us?" asked Uraraka just loud enough for the group to hear
"Maybe they are mad at us because the press is now bothering the?" Midoriya offered an answer.
"Not quite, after what happened with the press sneaking onto campus UA has been keeping a close eye on any newscaster," Ben stated not drawing attention to himself. "Track their eyes. They aren't looking at you guys they are looking at me. The news reported that a UA student single handed defeated a villain that could take down All Might. Hizashi, I mean Present Mic told me that someone started a rumor of the American hero student is one of if not the strongest student in the school. Apparently, they have been calling me the Foreign Force of Nature because of my forms. Five bucks say Hagakure was the one to tell other students about my forms. With me being the Force of Nature it makes sense that I'm the only one able to take down Nomu. They know this and they are scared. I've seen that look before. Their face may not say it but someone's eyes can say a lot about someone."
"What do you mean?" Asked Ashido
"When someone is scared but doesn't want to show it. Their mouth may be smiling or have no emotion to it but their eyes, but their eyes, ignoring the facial structure has a hollowness to them that isn't there when someone is calm or happy. There is a fire when someone is angry but when someone is scared for their lives and feels like they are powerless to stop it that look in their eye once you see it you will never forget it." Ben states with far too much experience in his voice. "With powers like mine, people saw me as a monster or a beast that can attack at any moment. I've gotten used to walking on eggshells around certain people. Even if the innocent may fear you as heroes we must do what we can to save them." Ben is staring ahead of him but isn't focusing on what is in front of him.
Ashido reached out and grabs the brunette by the arm just above the Omnitrix. "Ben? Did you see that look back in America?"
"Yeah, Kai's eyes when she looked at me before she-she…" the boy shut his eyes tight remembering her face.
"Before she passed? When that villain was holding her by her hair right?"
"I doubt I will never be able to forget her face." The American said destitute
"Don't worry Ben, if you ever need to talk about anything I-ugh-we will be there for you." the pink-skinned teen said with a slight blush
"Yeah, Mina is right." Kirishima announced walking ahead of Ben "If you need to talk about anything your friends will always be there!"
The group of students makes their way into class to see the rest of the class there in their seats relaxing and waiting for the start of class. The group minus Iida made their way to their seats and started talking to the people nearby about what happened at the USJ. The class felt like normal teenagers once again only to be startled by a certain blue-haired classmate of theirs.
"Homeroom class is about to begin!" Iida declares heading to the front of the class. "Everyone stop talking and take your seats!"
Ben looked around the room seeing the only empty seat being Iida's own. "Dude, we're all sitting. You're the only one standing."
"Oh, right. How foolish of me. As you were just ignore me." The bespeckled boy says trying to cover his blunder.
Leaning back in his seat Midoriya asks Ben. "How is Mr. Aizawa doing? Have you heard anything about him?"
With a shake of his head, the American says. "No idea. After I spaced out seeing Shota in the hospital Hizashi has been pretty hush-hush on his condition."
"I hope he is doing better. I wonder who is covering for him though." The green-haired teen responds by going through lists of heroes in his head."
All future conversations were cut off by the main door to the room opening. "Morning class." came a tired voice. Walking into the room the students could see Aizawa with bandages wrapped around his face and his right arm in a sling while also being completely wrapped up.
"Mr. Aizawa, what are you doing here!" the class cries out in surprise.
Standing up from his desk Ben goes to walk over to assist Aizawa into a chair at the front of the classroom.
"Ben there is no need to assist me." the injured hero tells the boy
"But Shota you are still banged up and the bandages are over your eyes."
"My well-being is irrelevant. What's more important is that all of you need to be prepared."
"Prepared? Prepared for what?" Ben asks.
The rest of the class is starting to be concerned wondering if more villains were attacking.
"You need to be prepared for the UA Sports Festival."
With the fear being washed away from the class yell at the teacher. "Why did you scare us like that!?"
"Tennyson back to your seat so I can start explaining the festival to the class," Aizawa said looking in the general direction of his student since he couldn't see well.
Half of the class was already excited all but jumping out of their seats. The other half had a look of uneasiness on their face. Jiro raised her hand before saying "Is it really such a good idea to hold the sports festival so soon after the villains suck inside?"
"They could attack once we're all in the same place," interjected Shoji
"Nezu made an announcement on the news saying that the Sports Festival will still be going on to prove that the threat has been handled and the school is safer than ever. It doesn't hurt that he is beefing up security compared to previous years." Aizawa informs the class. "This event is a huge opportunity for all students at UA. It's not something a few villains can cancel."
"I don't mean to sound ignorant but what is the sports festival?" Asked Ben raising his hand
"I'm surprised you haven't heard of it," Midoriya says surprised. "The UA Sports Festival is one of the most watched events around the world even outperforming the Olympic games. Quirks started to appear and people lost interest because the Olympics operates without the use of quirks."
"You are right Midoriya. The Sports Festival is one of three chances you will be getting to prove yourselves to heroes." Aizawa starts, "So don't waste this opportunity that has been given to you. This is the best chance you have to become Pro Heroes. The better you do in the festival the better chances you have to land a spot with one of the top heroes. This is one of the many reasons the festival matters. If you want to go pro this is the event that will get your name out there. One chance a year, three chances in a lifetime don't screw this up because you may regret it later. We will be training for the next three weeks to be prepared for the festival."
"Yes, Sir!" The class announces in unison
"Class dismissed."
When lunch rolled around Ben found his way to a quiet corner of the lunchroom with Ashido, and Kirishima.
"Man I'm so hyped for the festival!" The scarlet-haired teen calls out. "Dude! If we make it all the way it will be smooth sailing becoming Pros." Kirishima then takes a large bite out of a steak.
"Yeah, I'm really excited about the festival. I'm just a little worried about all the cameras." Ben said while scratching the back of his head.
"Why do you say that?" Ashido asked before taking a bite of Hawaiian pizza
"Oh, my family never had a good time with the press. Due to my family's unique combination of abilities, we were commonly called menaces and a threat to mankind." Ben said looking annoyed. "Harangue is an ass of a human being that chose to attack my family relentlessly on his talk show. Luckily it got canceled and I don't have to worry about him anymore."
"That's good to hear at the very least," Mina said with a bit of sadness in her voice. "I know that feeling. Growing up I would get picked on because of my mutations. My eyes, my skin, and my horns were out of the norm so they were easy targets of ridicule. They would call me an alien freak all the time."
"I remember hearing something like that around the schoolyard back in elementary school." Kirishima chimes in. "Wasn't there a group of guys who tied a UFO balloon to your backpack?"
"Yeah, those guys were jerks, but I never let any of that get me down. If anything I embraced it and became a little obsessed with Sci-Fi, aliens, and other worlds." Mina says sheepishly
"I'm right there with you Mina. Why do you think I call my transformations aliens." Ben said scooching closer to Mina to give her a one-armed hug. "This just means if we ever team up it will be an alien invasion."
"You dork," Mina says pushing Ben away with her cheeks turning slightly purple due to her already pink skin.
After lunch the class was sent to Ground Delta, this training facility was set up for students to practice their quirks on people. The current teachers that were there to teach this class were Ectoplasm, Snipe, and Midnight.
Ectoplasm is a tall man in a trench coat that covers most of his body revealing prostatic peg legs, he also wears a helmet that covers most of his head revealing just his oversized mouth. Ectoplasm can regurgitate a plasma-like substance to create clones of himself that are connected to him telepathically. Snipe is about average height with a cyberpunk cowboy aesthetic to his costume complete with a large beige gas mask, cowboy hat, and a large red cloak. Snipe's quirk allows him to turn any object into a homing weapon, he often pairs this with different types of guns but it can also be used on thrown objects. Midnight is a tall curvaceous woman who wears what can only be described as dominatrix BDSM wear with a thin layer of spandex to cover most of her body. His quirk allows her to secrete a gas from her skin to render opponents unconscious, for some reason it works better on males than females.
Ectoplasm standing in front of the main door begins to speak in a deep voice with surprisingly enough a warbling effect "I know All Might is normally your Heroics teacher but today Snipe, Midnight, and myself will be taking charge of your training."
"Due to what happened at the USJ Thirteen wasn't able to properly teach you restraint we will be doing that today." Snipe piped in
"Snipe and I will be keeping a close eye on all of you cuties." Midnight says in a sultry tone with a wink "If any of you goes overboard I will have to restrain you myself."
The provocative teacher's actions made many of the male students blush and some of the girls too. Ectoplasm wanting to stop Midnight's games took back control of the instructions.
"You will be using your quirks on me for the next three weeks on top of whatever training Aizawa and All Might have planned leading up to the sports festival." With that said the teacher's neck started to bulge before he spits out a large amount of silver slime. This slime then molded into twenty copies of himself.
"These clones are extensions of myself, each of them shares my memories and I can feel their pain. Treat them the same as you would me." The original Ectoplasm stated
"We will be your guinea pigs to see how well your control is." The twenty clones say in unison.
Once inside the warehouse-like building, the class can see that the building is made up of twenty rooms off a main hallway. Each room is no more than a 40-foot cube with a two-way mirror for a ceiling giving each student plenty of room to test the limits of their abilities before reigning in the power for control.
"Ok Tennyson, I understand that you have several forms do you have any forms that you have any struggle controlling that we should focus on first?" Asked Ben's Ectoplasm clone.
"I have a few forms that I recently unlocked but I haven't had a chance to test them out. Would it be ok if I tried those today?" responded the American a little nervous. "I unlocked two new forms this morning."
"Of course Tennyson that is why we are here. Before we start how long can you stay transformed?"
"That is more difficult to answer than you may think," Ben states before listing on his fingers. "It depends on how many times I've transformed before going back to normal, whether or not I'm exerting myself, or if I'm using a powerful transformation. Considering all of this I can go from a couple of hours if I'm not doing much or a couple of minutes if I'm putting my all into it."
"I see so assuming you have only transformed once into Four Arms and are fighting let us say Asui, how long will that form last?"
"Anywhere between twenty to thirty minutes, I'd guess. If I have to transform after Four Arms once or twice more cut about five to ten minutes off that." Ben says with a little hand wave motion.
"So quick changes shave about five minutes off your time limit then?"
"Yeah about there, but if I change into anything from my Powerhouse Playlist cut the remaining time I have by at least half."
"I see trading strength for time then. Care to explain this Powerhouse Playlist for me? I understand that your support item organizes your forms into playlists of ten for you, but I don't know much besides that."
"Yeah sorry about not putting this information into the forms like Aizawa wanted me to. Ben says scratching the back of his head. I am able to organize the playlist on top of the default ones the watch gives me. I put all my last-resort aliens in there. I can still access them in the default playlists just when things get rough I figured 'let's put all the heavy hitters in the same place.'"
"I see. So which forms are in this playlist?" Asked the teacher
"As of right now seven of the ten slots have been used but I can only assume I will be getting more later."
"Just going off your file," Ectoplasm says looking at a panel on the wall. "I'm assuming Way Big, NRG, Clockwork, Gravattack, and Atomix are in this playlist. I can't seem to find any more that I would assume would make the cut."
"If you look on playlist five you will see an alien called Pesky Dust that little guy made the cut."
Looking over to said playlist Ectoplasm found a blue-skinned fairy-like creature with lavender hair and insectoid-like wings wearing a green dress with black accents, the Omnitrix rests on the chest. The Pro Hero had to force himself to not laugh when he first laid eyes on this feminine form. "This transformation is quite interesting-" The teacher then began to erupt into laughter. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry just thinking of that form is on par with the one you used at the USJ is a little hard to believe."
"I can show you what he can do before we go to my new forms."
"Yes, that sounds like a brilliant plan."
After selecting the form Ben disappears in a flash of green light and Pesky Dust took his place. "Purr. Are you ready Mr. Ectoplasm?" the newly transformed Nemuina asks in a higher-pitched voice.
"Ready as ever Tennyson anything that you do to this clone will not affect the main body."
"Ok on the count of ten, I will use this form on you. Purr. One, Two, Ten!" Without saying another word Pesky Dust rose his left hand before a plume of green dust left it. Once the dust made contact with the hero Ectoplasm went limp before he started to snore. Pesky Dust's eyes lost all life, but still hovering with the green dust floating around the two of them.
From an outside perspective, the two were like this for about five minutes causing both the original Extoplasm and Midnight to become concerned.
"I lost connection to one of my clones minutes ago but I could feel it wasn't destroyed." Informed Extoplasm "Tennyson was going to show me a form he calls Pesky Dust. The form released a dust of some kind then the connection was lost. It looked similar to your Somnambulist."
"Oh? Does Bennie Boy have powers similar to mine? Let's check it out then." Midnight says opening the door.
When they enter the room they could see Pesky Dust hovering in the middle of the room being connected by a trail of floating dust to the clone slumped over in the corner.
"So that's how I look when I sle- Oh My God!" All the Ectoplasm suddenly yell in fright and in unison as the clone that was under Pesky Dust's ability awoke. "Tennyson, what did you do?"
With life coming back into the small alien's eyes he looks over to Midnight and the original Ectoplasm before transforming back to human. "I am so sorry Mr. Ectoplasm. Your clone was wanting to know about my Powerhouse Playlist and-" The teen was cut off.
"I am already aware of that. I was wondering about that dream I saw when the clone awoke. It was unlike anything I have experienced before. I'm shaking just thinking about it."
"Well Pesky Dust has the ability to make people fall asleep. Once they are asleep I am able to enter their dreams and alter them as I see fit." Ben explains "That is the reason why I have Pesky Dust in the Powerhouse Playlist. Even though Pesky Dust is one of my physically weakest forms the amount of psychological damage I can cause is immense."
"So you showed me a dream that I could easily describe as one of the worst nightmares I've ever had?" Asked the teacher a little annoyed.
"Yeah, sorry about that," Ben says sheepishly.
"Appogly accepted just promise me that you won't do that to me again."
"Promise."
After Ectoplasm and Midnight left the room to check on the other students Ben was now going through his available aliens with the Ectoplasm clone.
"Now that we have that incident out of the way let's see those new forms you were talking about."
"Ok, give me one second," Ben says while scrolling through his available aliens, "Ah there we go." In a flash of green a well-built lavender-skinned creature with darker purple markings across the body and silver antler-like antlers for eyebrows. This alien was wearing a large heavy green and black fur coat with a large hood with ever thicker fur around the edge. On the toes of the boots, there were claw-like protrusions that could be used to dig into the floor easier. In a deep Hungarian accent, the newly transformed teen announces "Elast-Elk!" causing Ben to see his own breath.
"This transformation is interesting Tennyson. I'm assuming with the vapor from your mouth you have cryokinesis similar to your other form Big Chill?" Asked the clone.
"No, I don't. This form's blood is tungsten based so even though the room is fairly warm for you it is actually freezing for me."
"Interesting so you would be strong against fire-based quirks and weak against water and ice quirks. Anything else this form can do?"
The teen stretched his arms to the ceiling while extending his legs to make reaching it easier. "I am able to stretch my limbs to about thirty feet I think. Plus from my own testing at home, I can easily lift a car but anything heavier is pushing it."
"Ok, that makes sense with the tungsten-based blood that would make your body heavier which means you would have to be stronger to compensate for it. That would also mean you would probably sink like a rock in water."
"Most likely, but I don't want to test that. It's already chilly enough in here as is."
"I see let's use the rest of our time here today to work on your control with this form Tennyson."
The three weeks flew by with the amount of training that the class was doing. Many of the students were putting in time at the school's gyms after school to strengthen both their quirks and their bodies. This is on top of what the teachers were putting them through.
Even though Aizawa was still heavily bandaged he did not light up on training. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday he and All Might would have the students face each other in mock combat scenarios that they may face in the field. Everything from hostages to armed shooters to good old fist fights with no quirks. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were control training days with Ectoplasm and Snipe or Midnight.
Things did get awkward a week in when Kaminari short-circuited and walked face-first into Midnight's bosom. Luckily she laughed it off saying "If you wanted a hug sweetie all you had to do was ask." This little statement made many of the boys blush before they chose to never speak of this again.
Ben spent much of his free time, outside of school and training, hanging out with both Ashido and Kirishima. These three were almost inseparable often times these could be seen at Mr. Twisters getting smoothies or at one of their houses, attempting to study before getting distracted by some video or text that was put into the group chat by one of their friends.
Speaking of their friends they would often rotate a fourth or fifth member of their group depending on what they were doing. Midoriya was often with the three when it came to studying Quirk Theory. Tsu and Uraraka were seen more often at Mr. Twisters or when Ashido would drag the boys to the mall to shop. Iida was training with his older brother quite a lot during this time so he was seen less often with the group but was always participating in the group chat.
The night before the Sports Festival was both one of the most nerve-racking nights and one of the calmest nights Ben has experienced in a while. Tonight the otherworldly teen wasn't worrying about seeing that monster in his sleep once again, tonight he was passing in his room thinking about what events might be chosen for tomorrow. He was currently on the phone with one of his classmates spit balling ideas and what they could do.
"So it looks like in previous years the festival is always broken into three types of events. The first is normally something that can thin the herd of students." Stats Ashido from over the phone. "This event normally isn't that difficult it's just a matter of being a part of the first group of people finishing."
"Ok so focus on speed and maneuverability then? That should be perfect for you and XLR8 or Fasttrack." Ben comments
"As long as I can pet that alien's soft fur I will be ok eating your dust if you go all out." Ashido jokes.
"Mina, what is up with you and my furrier transformations?"
"What? They are so fluffy I have to give them hugs."
"What is normally the second event?" Ben asks to change the topic. Even though she can't see it Ben has a deep blush from the memories of Ashido hugging him while he was transformed last week.
"It looks like a team event of some kind, so no lone wolves. That's perfect for us. If we can choose our own teams you, me, and Kiri would make a strong team." Ashido says giddily
"Yeah, we would. Between your acid, for attacking and Eijiro's hardening for defense on top of me as the wild card we could be unbeatable." Ben says passing around his room. "What is the final event?"
"That is always a tournament of which student is the strongest fighter," Ashido states without having to look it up. "That event doesn't change ever. Plus its easy money for the school for betting on which student will come out on top."
"If that's the case don't be upset if I beat you, Pinky." Ben jokes.
"Oh, Alien boy I was going to say the same thing." Mina jokes back.