Chapter 13
Deku and Hulk stood on opposite ends of the courtyard, having cleared all of the rubble out of the way for their impromptu sparring session. The other Avengers looked on anxiously, all of them terrified of what this fifteen-year-old boy was about to walk into. Captain America was only slightly less worried than the others, having been told over the radio by Deku that his first encounter with the green giant hadn't caused any problems; still, he had seen what the strongest Avenger was capable of when he got out of control, and was ready to order everyone to intervene if necessary.
"You ready, Hulk?" asked Deku. "I'm actually getting kind of excited." The normally mild-mannered boy found himself unable to help himself; he was eager to see how far all of his training had gotten him thus far.
Hulk simply gave a toothy grin and pounded his fists together.
"Now, I want a good, clean fight," ordered Cap, "no going overboard!" He was still on edge, unsure if the green Avenger would actually heed his command.
"Can you get on with it?" asked Pietro "We're on a timetable."
"Is someone going to count us down?" asked Deku.
"I'll do it!" said Bakugo, stepping forward. "Three, two, one," he said quickly, and finished by setting off an explosion in front of him.
The Hulk rushed forward on all fours like an animal, easily clearing the distance to the center of the courtyard. Deku, having anticipated Bakugo would give a truncated countdown, had already launched himself overhead and delivered a brain-scrambling kick at ten percent power. Hulk retaliated instantly with a backhand slap, but Deku shifted himself in midair and took the hit with his iron-soled shoes; the young hero grabbed Hulk from a distance using Blackwhip, and then pulled himself in for a flying kick at fifteen percent, sending the green giant sliding back slightly.
Deku's consistent output for Full Cowling was eight percent, but from their previous fight he knew that wasn't going to be enough to push the Hulk around; he would need to push himself up to his maximum safe limit of twenty percent – it would strain his body, but if used for individual attacks, he could handle it.
Hulk dug in his heels and pushed forward, going for a right hook before his opponent hit the ground. Deku used Blackwhip to pull himself down faster and slide between the Hulk's ankles, before kicking off the ground backwards into an elbow strike. Hulk met the elbow with a mule kick, and the two blows cancelled each other out.
The other Avengers were impressed. They could hardly believe the young boy they had fought alongside was managing to hold his own in a one-on-one against the Hulk. What's more, both of them looked like they were enjoying the fight. Cap and Nat found it strangely heartwarming, seeing their normally rage-fueled comrade find someone he can actually get along with; if they could all be that amicable with the Hulk, they would have so much less to worry about going forward – even Dr. Banner might be able to make some semblance of peace with his other half.
Hulk roared in frustration; he began spinning around, throwing wild haymakers and backfists at his much smaller opponent; Deku bobbed and weaved between the attacks in a flash of lightning, intercepting anything he couldn't evade with a strike of his own, leading to the two of them trading blows for a minute. The Hulk's frustration grew, as he raised his fists into the air to smash the ground; seeing his opening, Deku charged up to twenty percent and kicked Hulk in the stomach, sending him into the air; not done yet, Deku used Blackwhip on the ground to spin himself around, and then his airforce gloves to launch himself skyward past the Hulk.
"MANCHESTER SMASH!"
The kick sent the Hulk hurtling back down to earth, but the green giant didn't go down so easily – he caught himself with his hands and feet. Deku didn't give Hulk a chance to recover, as he quickly prepped Blackwhip to slingshot himself forward into a flying double-kick. The Hulk anticipated this, though, and caught the boy in midair, before trying to crush him between his hands; when Deku managed to hold the squeezing attack off, Hulk threw him across the courtyard and began to sprint forward.
Deku landed with his feet against the wall and kicked off immediately, deciding to meet Hulk's charge head on. "I'll have to push myself a little beyond my limits if I want to end this," he thought. "One for All – Full Cowling – 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%!"
Hulk's footsteps and Deku's lightning both intensified as they continued on their collision course.
"DETROIT!/HULK!"
"SMASH!/SMASH!"
The impact sent a shockwave roaring through the courtyard, blowing dirt, snow, and debris into the air; Todoroki reflexively threw up an ice wall to protect everyone watching the fight. In the center of the makeshift arena, the two fighters' fists collided; they both held for a few seconds, before the Hulk's fingers buckled, followed by his arm, then his shoulder, until both combatants were sent flying in his direction.
Todoroki took down the ice wall, and everyone frantically searched the area for where their fighting allies had landed. Over to their left, the Hulk was down on his back with a dislocated shoulder, and Deku sitting on his chest, holding up a shaky right arm.
Deku unfastened the bracer from his right arm, sliding both it and his glove off of his costume; the skin was swollen and bruised, though not as badly as it would've been had he used his full power. "You see, Hulk," he said, showing the green giant his arm.
Hulk looked up in slight confusion at the sight.
"My body can't handle my full power without getting hurt; this is the best fight I can give you right now; but one day, when I master this power, maybe I can find a way to come back here and we can spar again."
Hulk slowly reached up and took Deku into his hand, being uncharacteristically gentle with the boy. "Thank you," he said, with a genuine smile on his face, "Hulk had fun."
After the battle, Natasha patched up Deku's arm while his friends, Pietro, and Wanda got their own jet ready to travel back to America. Dr. Banner, now back to himself, approached Deku, his own arm in a sling from getting dislocated during the fight.
"I'm uh…sorry about the arm," said the scientist.
"Huh? Oh, don't worry about it; I'm used to it by now."
Bruce went quiet, contemplative. "Thanks."
"For what?"
"For treating the Hulk the way you did. There're only a few other people I know who've tried to be friends with the guy, but only one of them was nearly as earnest about it as you; so, thanks."
Deku smiled. "No problem. It was an honor to meet him."
Shortly after, the preparations were complete. The five heroes bid farewell to the Avengers and were on their way to the X-Men.
It was a bright and sunny day in Tokyo, giving a milder air to the otherwise bitter chill of winter. The Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall was bustling with post-holiday shoppers eager to spend their Christmas money or returning unwanted gifts, among them a trio of girls from UA High School.
Ochaco Uraraka walked through the open-air mall in a hot-pink down jacket and black, fleece-lined sweatpants, with her short, brown hair tucked into a lighter pink beanie. To her right, Tsuyu Asui wore a dark-green, double-breasted peacoat, a skirt with warm leggings underneath, and patterned gloves and a matching scarf, her long, dark sea-green hair worn loose and tied into a bow near the bottom as usual. Following just behind them, Momo Yaoyorozu wore a longer, charcoal peacoat and matching skirt, with black, wool leggings and red, knee-high boots, her black hair tied into its usual spiky high ponytail. Each of them carried a metal briefcase in addition to their bags – their hero costumes, that they brought along just in case.
The girls had some time off from their respective internships, and since their schedules aligned, they decided to go out on a shopping trip together, which Yaoyorozu's butler, Uchimura, was happy to drive them to. They had already browsed most of the clothing stores, hence the bags, and were happily on their way to one of the bookstores next.
"It's nice we were able to meet up like this, Yaoyorozu," said Uraraka, cheerfully.
"Yeah," added Asui, "Uraraka and I were going to come here by ourselves, but it was nice to find out someone else had some time off, ribbit."
"Tell me about it; it feels like we've all been absolutely swamped lately between classes and our work studies."
The trio entered the bookstore and started browsing. Uraraka perused the martial arts books, looking for some insight in how to improve her hand-to-hand combat; Asui was in the children's section trying to find a book for her younger sister; and Yaoyorozu was torn between textbooks and finding a new work of fiction to lose herself in.
"Where do you wanna go next, Yaoyorozu, ribbit?"
Yaoyorozu turned to see her frog-mannered friend approaching with her purchase in hand. "Well, there's this new teashop that opened recently that I was hoping to check out."
"That sounds like a good spot to take a break," added Uraraka, as she joined them.
The other two girls joined Yaoyorozu to help her with her book search, when a sudden crash and rumble reverberated through the mall outside. People ran toward the exit, screaming. Whether it was a villain attack or a natural disaster the girls didn't know, but what they did know was that they were needed. They quickly ran into the restroom and opened their briefcases, changing into their hero costumes.
Yaoyorozu was the first one out, having the least amount of gear to change into. Her tight, red leotard and matching boots and cape were quickly thrown on, and her two utility belts affixed to hold a reference book behind her. Upon seeing a group of thugs ransacking the stores further down, a pair of tonfas grew out of her bare thighs in a shimmering light.
Uraraka and Asui followed soon after; the former in a black and pink bodysuit, with pink, armored boots, gauntlets, and belt, along with a matching headset; the latter in a suit of light and dark shades of green with yellow accent lines, with tan gloves, belt, and headband with goggles, and her boots sporting frog-like feet.
"Looks like we've got villains attacking," said Yaoyorozu, getting her friends up to speed. "They look like common thugs, but be careful – they might have Quirks that could cause us trouble."
The heroine trio ran down the mall together, with Yaoyorozu leading them to the fast food restaurant she last saw the ruffians enter. Asui leaped ahead, running on all fours along the walls of the storefronts; she seemingly disappeared, using her camouflage ability to blend in with the colors of her surroundings. Yaoyorozu produced a trio of flash grenades from her abdominal area, courtesy of her suit's plunging neckline, and stored two of them beneath her utility belt; she pulled the pin on the third and threw it into the shop.
A flash of light and a deafening bang disoriented everyone nearby. Yaoyorozu clubbed one of the men in the head with one of her tonfas, before delivering a combination of body blows that put him on the ground; she quickly pulled a pair of handcuffs out of her chest and bound the man's wrists. Uraraka charged straight at the man nearest to her and grabbed him; as soon as all of her fingers made contact, the man became weightless and was easily thrown to the ground. Yaoyorozu quickly threw her another pair of handcuffs, which she quickly used to restrain her target; when Uraraka was done, she let the now handcuffed man float up to the ceiling of the store where he would be out of the way.
With their number reduced to three, the thugs were less of a threat, but they didn't let that deter them as they regained their senses and stared down the two girls that stood against them.
"Will you surrender peacefully?" asked Yaoyorozu.
"Hah, fat chance!" yelled a spiky-haired man wearing a mask, as his forearms sprouted metal blades.
He ran forward, ready to take the girls' heads, but Yaoyorozu intercepted him; her tonfas were made of reinforced steel, allowing her to go blow for blow with the man's blades.
"What about you, girly?" asked the lone woman of their group, as her long hair stretched out and whipped the floor around her. "You spoiling for a fight!?"
Before the whip-haired girl could get very far, a long, pink tongue wrapped around her waist and threw her into the back wall. Asui appeared on the wall of the restaurant and continued to throw the captive woman around, but the villain whipped the frog heroine's tongue to get her to let go. Uraraka took the opportunity to touch some the tables and benches in the shop, before grabbing them with grappling hooks from her gauntlets and throwing them at the woman; as the objects flew through the air, Uraraka brought her ten fingers together, releasing her zero gravity; the tables and benches crashed into the woman, instantly knocking her out, and the man that had previously been up against the ceiling fell hard to the floor.
The last of the criminals' number, a rather rotund man, opened his mouth wide and spewed a large, sickly green bubble into the air; droplets fell from the bubble, melting the floor on contact.
"Creati!" yelled Uraraka, calling out Yaoyorozu's hero name.
Yaoyorozu broke the blades on her opponent's arms and kicked him to the ground; she threw one of her tonfas at the bubble, only to have it get trapped inside and instantly start corroding. While Asui jumped around the walls to avoid the bubble, the large man continued to make more of them to try and head her off. Yaoyorozu took a different approach and produced a long, metal needle from her chest; the bubble popped on contact and spilled all over the floor, melting a hole in the tile. Uraraka quickly moved in, grabbing the needle and using it to pop the other bubbles; Asui was able to get in close and deliver a fierce kick to the head, just before the man spewed another bubble.
The spiky-haired man was not down just yet, however; he grew a new set of blades out of his arms, violently tearing the broken ones out. The three heroines weren't having it; Asui wrapped her tongue around the man's face, preventing him from seeing, while Uraraka tossed another bench at the man to knock him down. As he got back up, Yaoyorozu produced a magnetic restraining belt made of steel, and threw it at him; the device clamped around his body, forcing his arms against his torso.
With the villains rounded up and restrained, the girls called the police and tended to any civilians nearby; they secured the area around the restaurant and waited outside for the authorities to arrive. While they were waiting, however, a blur of light sped into the mall, disintegrating part of the ceiling as it arrived; a floating, athletically built man with long, golden hair appeared before them in a flash of light. The girls were immediately on guard.
"Who is this guy, ribbit? Could he be the real leader of those criminals?"
"Maybe," speculated Uraraka. "They didn't seem to be here to shoplift; it was more like they were just breaking things for the fun of it."
"Then maybe this one hired them to cause some destruction on his behalf, and now he's here to finish the job," added Yaoyorozu.
The trio prepared for battle, but were too slow. The translucent-skinned man was on them in a blink and attacked with a blinding flash of light.
When the girls' vision returned to them, they quickly shook off their disorientation and tried to find the villain that attacked them, but he was nowhere to be seen. What's more, there was something odd about the shopping mall. The building looked different than the one they were just standing in, and the people surrounding them weren't Japanese.
"Who are they?"
"Where did they come from?"
"Do you think they're mutants?"
"Look at their clothes, they've gotta be superheroes."
The people all around them were speaking English; the signs on the storefronts were all written in English as well, and American flags lined the mall's walkway.
"Where are we?" asked Uraraka.
"I don't know," replied Yaoyorozu. "Somehow, it looks like that last villain teleported us to the United States."
"Should we try asking for help, ribbit?"
The three of them nodded and switched to speaking in English; they approached the crowd carefully and asked for help, claiming they were lost.
"Well, imagine our shock when you girls showed up outta nowhere like that," said one of the shoppers.
"Sorry, we didn't really plan for this," explained Yaoyorozu.
"I get it; lot's a crazy stuff happens 'round here. Welcome to upstate New York."
That at least confirmed where they were; somehow, they ended up all the way on the east coast of North America, a frankly absurd distance for a single villain's Quirk to teleport them – it was easily far stronger than the Warp Gate Quirk of Kurogiri, one of the agents of the League of Villains that the girls had fought in the past.
"Anyway, you girls superheroes by any chance?"
"Well—"
Just then, a massive fire broke out at the end of the mall. Shoppers began running away from the blaze, screaming.
"Get to safety!" ordered Yaoyorozu, as she and the other girls prepared to fight.
"Do you think these are more of that golden villain's men?" asked Uraraka.
"With such a long-range teleportation Quirk, anything is possible. We could be dealing with another international organization like Humarise."
The mall's fire suppression system activated, causing water to rain down from the ceiling. Out of the smoldering flames came a trio of men. One was a large man with long hair and a beard, one was a green-haired man with a reptilian complexion, and in between them was a younger man with slicked-back blonde hair. The three of them casually walked down the mall, feeling no sense of urgency or danger. The blonde-haired man carried a flame in his hand that he wasted no time launching at a storefront as an expanding blast of fire.
Unable to stand by and watch the destruction, the heroines-in-training ran forward.
"We'll hold them off until the pros arrive!" ordered Yaoyorozu, as she created a fire extinguisher from her stomach and tossed it to Asui.
Asui, being the fastest of the three, jumped forward and started putting out the fires. As she did so, a long tongue lashed out at her, causing her to jump out of the way. The green-haired man had turned his attention to her.
"Well, aren't you a sweet thing; you're just like me. Care for a kiss?"
"Blegh," Asui wretched in disgust. "Sorry, I don't make a habit of dating villains, ribbit."
Asui retreated to her friends, where Yaoyorozu had made fireproof cloaks for each of them. Given that their opponents all seemed to have Quirks that specialized for combat, Yaoyorozu would've liked to make some cannons to take them at long range, but there was no time and there were too many civilians around; they would have to engage in close combat.
The three villains charged on the blonde man's orders, with the man in question shooting a massive wall of flame at the girls. The young heroines covered themselves in the cloaks and ran through the fire, with Yaoyorozu throwing one of her two remaining flashbangs from earlier as soon as she was through. The blast disoriented the villains, and the Everything Hero used the opportunity to attack the flame-wielding villain with a bo staff, smashing one of the flamethrowers on his arm before he could retaliate.
"You can't create fire can you, only control it?"
"Think you're clever!?" he yelled, before using his remaining flamethrower to surround her with fire.
Asui doused the fire with what was left in the extinguisher, before engaging her counterpart on the villains' side; the two frog-powered individuals seemed evenly matched, as they jumped, kicked, and tongue-lashed each other around the walkway.
Uraraka was left with the rather large, barbarian-looking man, who was now charging at her with razor-sharp claws growing from his fingers. She deftly evaded his attack and grabbed him, before throwing his now weightless body around the room.
The matchups were just about even, but the heroines ran into trouble when civilians caught in the crossfire kept getting in the way. Trying to evacuate the terrified shoppers while fighting the villains meant that they were quickly losing ground; but just as they were about to be overwhelmed, a roar of a jet engine could be heard overhead.
Three new combatants dropped in from the ceiling, all of them wearing black and yellow suits. One had a visor over his eyes, which he shot red energy out of with the touch of a button, sending the toad-like villain flying; one had metal claws coming out of his knuckles, which he used to help Uraraka fend off her opponent; and the third has a body covered in ice, which he shot from his hands to neutralize the blonde man's flames.
"Pros, finally," said Yaoyorozu, breathing a sigh of relief.
With six heroes united, they prepared for round two.
Chapter 14
Yaoyorozu was relieved to see the sight of Pro Heroes by their side; she was unsure how long the three of them could've held out against these villains without some form of backup – not while having to worry about the safety of civilians at the same time at any rate. From what she could tell, the three pros seemed to be part of a team, if their matching uniforms and the fact that they arrived together were any indication; that meant they likely worked well together, but would probably have difficulty incorporating unfamiliar rookies into their team dynamic.
"Uraraka, Tsu, let's leave the villains to the pros for now and focus on evacuating the civilians."
The other two girls nodded, and quickly began sweeping the nearby stores for any people that had been left behind. Yaoyorozu made a pair of shields to wear on her arms as she entered a clothing store, finding a shopper and an employee hiding out in the dressing room; she urged them to come with her and escorted them out into the mall, ushering them towards the far exit away from the unfolding battle. Asui entered a video game store and found a pair of employees trapped in the back room, the door frame twisted in on itself and blocked by rubble; she used her tongue to pull the rubble out of the way, and then delivered a powerful kick to the door to smash it off its hinges, before guiding the employees to safety. Uraraka ran into a gym and found several patrons that had gotten pinned under workout equipment; she quickly used her Zero Gravity to move the equipment and float the injured customers to safety.
By the time the girls wrapped up their sweep of the nearby stores, the Pro Heroes that had come in were fully invested in their fight against the villains. The pros had quickly isolated each villain and were fighting them one-on-one, keeping them away from one another.
"Alright, if we can make those fights two against one, we should be able to turn the tide," said Yaoyorozu. "Just look for the best moment to jump in and don't get in the pros' way; use the element of surprise."
The other two girls nodded, and the three of them scattered.
The scaly-skinned villain jumped off the walls and swung from the ceiling with his tongue, trying his best to avoid the ranged attacks of his opponent. The hero stood tall in a black suit made of padded body armor beneath Kevlar, with yellow gauntlets, boots, and belt; his chest and shoulders were also yellow, with a thin black X going across his chest; wrapped around his head was a gold, metal, goggle-like upper-face mask that left his brown hair exposed, and had a single, thin red line going across to serve as a visor. Whenever the hero turned the dial covering one of his ears, a red beam of energy shot out of his visor; he skillfully used short bursts of this laser to control the toad-like villain's movements by strategically destroying footholds around him.
Out of options, the green-skinned man climbed up on a large decoration that looked like a rocket ship, but was suddenly knocked back down to the ground by an unseen force. The villain looked up to see the frog girl clinging to the rocket, her camouflage fading; the distraction was just long enough for him to get blasted into a wall by the laser-wielding hero. Wasting no time, Tsuyu Asui attached her tongue to the same wall and pulled herself towards the villain with a devastating flying double-kick. She kicked him back out into the open, letting the pro hit him again with another laser beam.
Across the room, the youngest looking of the Pro Heroes dueled against the young man with the flame control Quirk. The hero's uniform was practically invisible, now being completely covered in ice, though the faint details of armored padding and the X on his belt could still be made out. The two were evenly matched, fire and ice cancelling each other out. With the pyrokinetic villain distracted, Yaoyorozu was able to put her Creation Quirk to use making a net cannon that she used to try and restrain him. The villain reacted quickly enough to burn the net, but missed the fire extinguisher thrown into the air above him, that was quickly punctured with a shot from a rivet gun; the foaming chemical exploded onto the fiery villain, followed by Yaoyorozu herself running up to him with two more extinguishers strapped to her back. In a desperate move, the villain turned up the pressure of his controlled flames to push himself across the floor to a safe distance.
Right in the middle of the mall, the last Pro Hero fought the clawed villain, both of them ripping each other apart as savagely as they could. The pro wore a yellow suit with black and blue accents, blue gauntlets, boots, and shoulder pads, and a yellow mask covering his upper face; the armor and Kevlar held up well, but the same couldn't be said about his sleeveless arms. Surprisingly, though, any wounds his arms took seemed to close up almost instantly. He fought the sabertoothed villain using a trio of metal blades extending from the knuckles of each hand, the two of them fighting like wild animals with no signs of slowing down. Uraraka wasn't content waiting for an opening, so she began applying her Quirk to various objects around the mall and knocking them into the air above the fight; luckily, they were too absorbed in the violence to notice. She waited until a moment when the yellow-clad hero knocked the long-haired villain down, and then…
"Get out of the way!" she yelled, as she brought her fingers together to release her Quirk.
The brutish hero jumped back, just as a rain of shopping mall paraphernalia rained down on top of the villain. As he was battered by the countless objects, Uraraka slipped in among them and tapped her fingers against the villain, before jumping back towards the hero.
"He's weightless now!" she said.
The masked hero charged forward on all fours and lunged at his enemy; the blades on his hands sunk into the villain's flesh, just before the force of the hero's fists sent the other wild man flying.
The villains looked among themselves as they got up. They were outnumbered and had been soundly defeated.
"Come on, let's get out of here," said the flame-controlling villain. "We did what we came here for anyway," he added, arrogantly.
Before the heroes could get close, a wall of flames erupted between them. As the ice hero put them out, the villains made a hasty retreat.
By the time the fire was out, a crowd of people had gathered back into the mall. They clapped their hands and cheered for the heroes that saved them.
"The crowd's a bit much," said the visored hero, "we should split."
"What about them?" asked the ice hero, as he thawed his body, revealing his white and light-blue suit with black accents, and his combed up blonde hair. "They coming with us?"
"Ideally," said the visored hero, turning to the girls. "We'd like to debrief you about your involvement here."
"We'll come with you," said Yaoyorozu. "We have some questions of our own, and we could really use your help."
With that, the Pro Hero team called down a large, black jet from above, and the six of them got on board.
A tense silence filled the passenger cabin of the jet as the autopilot steadily cruised through New York State airspace. The Pro Heroes watched the girls with scrutinizing eyes. The girls could understand – they probably weren't expecting three foreign rookies to get involved in a villain attack in their country.
"So," began the man with the red-tinted visor, "I guess the first question to ask would be, 'how did you three teenage girls end up fighting in that shopping mall?'"
As the de-facto leader of the trio, Yaoyorozu answered him. "Well, we're heroes in training so of course we decided to help."
"Heroes in training?" asked the gruff man in the yellow suit.
"I assure you we all have our provisional licenses."
"Licenses?" asked the blonde boy, sounding confused.
"Let's slow down a bit," said the visored man. "What are your names, and where are you from?"
"My name is Momo Yaoyorozu, Hero Name: Creati."
"Ochako Uraraka, Hero Name: Uravity."
"I'm Tsuyu Asui, you can call me Tsu; oh, and my Hero Name is Froppy, ribbit."
"So, you girls are all Japanese?" asked the blonde boy in a slow voice, leaning forward a bit.
"Easy, Bobby," said the yellow-clad man, "Kitty'll get mad at you if she sees you puttin' the moves on other girls."
"That's not what I—"
The gruff hero laughed.
"Forget it. Ass."
"That's right; we're all students training at UA Academy," continued Yaoyorozu.
"UA? That some kind of hero school?" asked the visored man.
"Yes, the most famous one in Japan."
"Never heard of it," he said, glancing at the other two to see their equally confused reactions. "Are you girls mutants?"
"That's a bit rude," said Asui.
"We're just normal girls with Quirks," added Uraraka.
The three Pro Heroes were looking more confused with each response they got from the girls.
"You don't seem to be lying, but your story doesn't add up," said the yellow-suited hero.
"Can we ask some questions of our own?" asked Yaoyorozu. "Like, who are you three?"
"Oh, we were so caught up in debriefing you we didn't even introduce ourselves," said the visored hero. "Call me Cyclops; the kid is Iceman, and our growly companion here is Wolverine."
The yellow-clad hero snarled in response, immediately proving Cyclops' point.
"We're members of the X-Men."
"X-Men?" asked Uraraka.
"Yeah," replied Iceman, "Team of mutant superheroes. What, you've never heard of us?"
Before either of the other girls could respond, Yaoyorozu waved them down. "Setting that aside for now, who were those villains we fought at the mall?"
"Ah, well, the scaly one goes by Toad. Creative, I know," said Iceman. "And the one who could control fire, that's Pyro – he used to be one of us." He said that last part more solemnly.
"The big guy with the claws calls himself Sabretooth," added Wolverine.
"They're all members of the Brotherhood of Mutants," explained Cyclops, "an anti-human terrorist organization created by our longest-standing enemy, Magneto."
"I have a question, ribbit; how are what you guys call mutants any different from people with Quirks?"
"I'm…not sure," he replied. "I don't know what you mean by 'Quirks;' and to be honest, your story is full of holes."
"We're not sure what to think either," said Yaoyorozu. "We just want to find a way to get back home, and to find out who the mysterious villain was that brought us to America to begin with."
"You were brought here by a villain?" asked Iceman.
"That's right," replied Uraraka. "We had just finished fighting some burglars in our own shopping mall back home, and then this strange, glowing man showed up and transported us here."
"Huh, that's…something."
"Can you help us, please?" asked Yaoyorozu.
"We can't, not with circumstances this unknown," said Cyclops, carefuly, "but maybe the professor can help you." He seemed willing to assist, but was clearly still a little wary of the newcomers.
Red energy swirled around Deku's gauntlet; the green-haired boy watched in awe as the damaged part of his suit was stitched back together as if by magic.
"There, that should hold until we get to the mansion," said Wanda.
"Thanks."
The Maximoff twins had just finished filling the boys in about the X-Men while the Quinjet rapidly approached New York, when Deku decided to do some costume maintenance to kill the remaining time.
"Hey, we're here," said Bakugo. "Come take a look."
Deku and Todoroki entered the cockpit and looked outside. Deku broke out into a huge smile, while Todoroki's eyes widened in amazement. Stretching out in front of them was a massive estate with beautifully maintained lawns and gardens, and at its center stood the largest mansion any of them had ever seen – it was practically a palace, and even made their classmate, Yaoyorozu's own manor look humble by comparison.
"And the X-Men all live here!?" asked Deku.
"It's not just a house," explained Quicksilver, "the professor uses it as a school campus to teach mutants how to control their powers."
"Kind of like UA," added Todoroki.
Some sensors buzzed. Pietro checked what was going on and quickly spoke to someone on the other end of his headset. "Looks like we're not the only ones landing," he said.
The UA boys were further wowed when they saw the whole central area of the garden start folding and opening, revealing a giant trapdoor leading underground. Ahead of them, a black jet resembling the historic SR-71 Blackbird slowed itself in midair and gently lowered itself into the hangar. Their own Quinjet soon followed.
The inside of the hangar was sleek and metallic – a surprisingly modern facility beneath such a classical mansion. Across the landing pad, people were exiting the Blackbird lookalike, and some familiar faces locked eyes.
"Uraraka!?" exclaimed Deku.
"Deku!"
"Is that Yaoyorozu and Asui as well?" asked Todoroki.
"Hey, guys; how did you get here, ribbit?"
"The hell are the girls doing here!?"
Deku and Uraraka were the first to reach each other.
"I can't believe you're here, Deku. Did your internship bring you guys here?"
"Well, we were working for Endeavor when we got here, but not quite. Wait, how did you three get here?"
"There was a mysterious villain that appeared out of nowhere," explained Yaoyorozu. "He brought us all the way here to the U.S."
"It's more than that," said Todoroki. "You weren't just brought to America; this is actually a whole different universe."
"What!?" the three girls shouted together.
"That explains it," said a man with the red visor, standing behind the girls.
"Whoa, are you members of the X-Men!?" asked Deku.
"I guess the twins filled you in," said a rough-looking man wearing a yellow costume.
"Yeah, I've heard all about you; you're a group of mutant heroes that fight villainous mutants and promote advocacy for—"
"Now, now, young man; please don't get too excited," said a voice from nearby.
Everyone turned to see a bald man in a wheelchair approach them.
"Please, let's go inside and find a more comfortable place to speak."
Chapter 15
Upon his arrival, the X-Men stood at attention; all except for Quicksilver and the gruff-looking man in the yellow armor, who both stood in line in more lax postures. The UA students could immediately tell that this man was their leader, which was far from what they expected. The man was middle-aged, bald, seemingly personable and mild-mannered, and, as previously observed, confined to a wheelchair; he was hardly the powerful figure they imagined leading a team of heroes, at least when compared to someone like Captain America. Then again, their own school principal was a small, mouse-like creature, so who were they to judge.
"Come now, let's not idle here in the hangar; let us discuss recent events over tea."
With the flick of a joystick on the armrest, the bald man turned the wheelchair around and rolled it towards the nearby circular door embossed with a large X. The man wearing red goggles wasted no time catching up to him and taking over the wheelchair by pushing it manually; it was clear he cared deeply for the man and respected him a great deal. The other members of the X-Men soon followed.
"Let's go," said Wanda with a rare smile, bidding the teens to follow her.
The girls were unsure how welcome they were after the interrogation they received on the plane ride over, but Deku reassured them that these people could be trusted – at least, that was what he believed after having already worked with Wanda and Pietro. Knowing their green-haired friend to be a good judge of character, the students all followed along with the older heroes.
The hallways beyond the hangar were all lined with metal panels and white lights. It looked to be a high-tech underground facility. Deku and Yaoyorozu were particularly impressed, wondering what kind of advanced technology the X-Men possibly had inside. Their path did not allow them to stick around and look, however, as the man in the wheelchair led them through the halls until they reached a small room where the heroes were prompted to change into their civilian clothes; when they were done changing, the wheelchair-bound continued leading them until they reached an elevator. They felt the cabin move upwards, and before long they found themselves exiting into an old-fashioned, luxurious Western mansion, with the elevator closing behind them with a door that made it blend seamlessly into the wall. They walked down a few more corridors, these made of rich, well-polished wood, before arriving in a small parlor with an ornate table with sofas on three sides of it. To the surprise of the UA students, a brown-haired girl around their age, or perhaps a bit older, with a ponytail, had already laid out a tray of tea and biscuits for them all; she greeted the blonde boy among the X-Men with a hug and a quick peck on the cheek, before leaving the room by walking through the wall. The bald man rolled to the head of the table and bid them all to sit down.
The brown-haired man who had been wearing a visor, now replaced with a pair of red-lensed sunglasses, the blonde young man, and Wanda all sat down on one of the sofas, leaving the other two open for the UA boys and girls to fill, respectively; Pietro and the man formerly wearing the yellow suit, now in jeans and a leather jacket, stayed standing leaned back against the wall. Wanda used her telekinesis to pour tea for everyone who was seated, thinking it would be more efficient than waiting for everyone to pass the teapot around. The bald man took a sip, followed by a moment to savor the flavor; he conducted himself like a proper British gentleman, which reflected in his choice to have this conversation over tea – something the Japanese students were all quite used to from their own culture.
"Now, allow me to introduce myself; my name is Professor Charles Xavier, and I am the head of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, which I run out of my home here."
"Cool digs," said Bakugo, "but why's a huge mansion like this got a secret base downstairs?"
"Bakugo, don't be rude," reprimanded Yaoyorozu.
The professor chuckled. "It's quite alright; young Bakugo's curiosity is understandable."
The students' expressions shifted. They were shocked, confused, and dumbstruck all at once. None of them had given their names yet, so it was impossible for Professor Xavier to know Bakugo's name just like that.
"I teach more than just how to live with one's abilities here, but also how to use those abilities for good; it's a concept I'm sure you're all familiar with – a hero school, much like your UA Academy."
"How could you know about that?" asked Todoroki. "No one else in this world did."
"It must be his power," answered Deku, almost immediately. "Mind-reading?"
"More than that, young Midoriya – telepathy," explained the professor. "I used it to take a small peek inside each of your minds just now; and, as your friend Todoroki just confirmed, I also know you six are not from this universe."
"Kinda creepy you can see inside our heads like that," said Bakugo.
"It does feel a little invasive," said Yaoyorozu, with the other two girls next to her shrinking up in agreement.
"That's incredible!" exclaimed Deku. "What are its limits? How far is your effective range? Do you also have telekinesis like Wanda?"
"Calm yourself, young Midoriya; there will be plenty of time to discuss it with me later," said Xavier, with a laugh. "I merely wanted to show you all that you are in familiar company."
The professor gestured to his subordinates. The man with the sunglasses looked unsure at first, so Wanda took the lead.
"Well, since half of you already know me, I'll go first," she said. "My name is Wanda Maximoff, they call me the Scarlet Witch."
"Pietro Maximoff, her brother," Pietro chimed in, as he suddenly appeared next to Professor Xavier. "Call me Quicksilver," he added, before just as quickly moving back to the same spot of wall he was leaning against earlier.
The blonde young man of the group went next. "Bobby Drake, Iceman."
The man with the sunglasses and the man in the leather jacket were reluctant to introduce themselves, but finally did so after a nod of encouragement from the professor.
"My name is Scott Summers," said the glasses-wearing man. "I go by Cyclops in the field."
The wild-haired man leaning against the wall growled. "Logan, they call me the Wolverine."
"Good, that's half of us introduced," said the professor; "and now for our young students."
"I'm Izuku Midoriya," said Deku, taking a rare initiative, eager to learn more about this new hero school, "my Hero Name is Deku."
"Shoto Todoroki; you can just call me Shoto."
Yaoyorozu lowered her teacup and gently placed it on its saucer. "Momo Yaoyorozu, a pleasure to meet you all; my Hero Name is Creati."
"Hi, I'm Ochako Uraraka," followed Uraraka, with a smile on her face. "My Hero Name's Uravity."
"Tsuyu Asui; you can call me Froppy in the field."
With everyone else's introductions made, only Bakugo was left.
"Katsuki Bakugo," he said, with surprising calm, "Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight." He said everything with a perfectly straight face.
Pietro couldn't stop himself in time and let out a chuckle, while Bobby smiled and raised an eyebrow. The older X-Men were less amused; Logan scoffed, while Scott shook his head. Wanda had her hands over her mouth, trying not to say anything, while the UA girls winced in embarrassment. Shoto didn't really react, while Deku let out a sigh, both of them having gotten used to people's reactions to their friend's absurd Hero Name. Professor Xavier remained composed, having likely already learned Bakugo's Hero Name when he probed their minds earlier.
"Alright, now that we all know each other, let us have our guests tell us what they've been through since arriving here," suggested the professor. "Perhaps their story can give us insight into what, exactly, we are currently facing."
With that, the UA students explained everything that had happened to them in the past few days. The mysterious villain that transported them here to this world, the other heroes they met and fought alongside, and how Tony Stark was working on something that could hopefully return them home.
"Well, I'm finally glad we know what's going on now," commented Uraraka.
"It's a lot to take in," added Yaoyorozu, "but now that we have all the facts, we can better plan out what to do next."
"We actually came here with Wanda and Pietro because they said the villain you're all fighting said something about another world," said Deku.
All eyes were on the professor now, counting on him to put all of the pieces together. "He did, indeed," he said, somberly. "The villain Wanda and Pietro referred to calls himself Magneto."
"Yeah, we heard as much from them," said Bakugo. "Something about him leading a group called the Brotherhood of Mutants?"
"Correct. To clarify, he is a mutant supremacist bent on opposing humans, wanting to either enslave them or, at the very least, create a mutant nation separate from them."
The room fell silent, as the students contemplated the professor's explanation.
"And by humans, you mean people without powers?" asked Todoroki.
"Specifically, those without any innate ability that they were born with."
Deku and Bakugo both frowned, each having their own reasons to be uncomfortable with the implications of someone trying to harm people for simply not being born with powers.
"Recently, the agents of the Brotherhood have been on the hunt for something pertaining to another universe; we have reason to believe that that is what Magneto is currently after," continued Xavier, "which is where all of you come in. I do not believe it is a coincidence that he began looking for such a thing around the same time you arrived in this world."
"Yeah, the timing is a little too perfect," added Scott.
"Do you think he's after us?" asked Asui.
"Is that why those villains came to the mall we were in?" asked Uraraka.
"I do not believe so," replied the professor. "That appears to have simply been the latest in a long line of diversionary attacks the Brotherhood are making to obfuscate their movements."
"Then, maybe they're after that strange villain that brought us here in the first place," said Deku.
"Precisely. This being brought you all here, so it stands to reason that it could potentially send you back home…"
"And bring Magneto along for the ride," added Todoroki.
"My thoughts exactly," Xavier concluded.
"How can we help?" Deku asked, firmly.
"You don't," replied Logan. "You leave it to us."
Bakugo scowled. "Like hell we will!" he shouted, hanging his head over the back of the couch to look at their detractor.
"We can't just sit on the sidelines," argued Yaoyorozu. "We're heroes, too."
"In training," retorted Logan, "you said as much yourself!"
"True, but we've all been in real combat with real villains in the past," added Todoroki. "Besides, if there's a chance this could help us get back home, then we have a vested interest in getting involved."
"And what if Magneto finds a way to follow you to your world, huh!? You have any idea what kind of damage he could do!?"
"He has a point, ribbit. We've don't know anything about Magneto; do we really wanna risk bringing him home with us?"
Bakugo, who had been staring daggers into Logan the entire time, turned his glare towards Asui.
"Well, what do you think, Professor?" asked Uraraka.
"I am not opposed to your assistance, but I implore you all to promise me you will leave Magneto to us should you encounter him."
Deku shook his head. "We can't do that. I understand that he's dangerous, but we can't promise we won't try to help the X-Men fight him, especially if he tries to come after us anyway."
The professor sighed. "I'm not surprised you would say that."
"I'm all for them helping," said Bobby, giving his two cents. "I wasn't that much older than them when I became a proper member of the team. As long as they've got the skills, I say we let them come with."
"The green kid fought the Hulk," said Pietro with a shrug.
"Twice," added Wanda. "I've worked with them already; I can vouch for them."
"Very well," said Professor Xavier, "but if you're all going to join us, you'll each need something to help you fight the Brotherhood and Magneto."
"You can't be serious," argued Logan. "I've worked with the others and they know what they're doing, but now you expect me to work with a bunch of kids we just picked up and just pray they have my back?"
"We were able to help you before at the mall," retorted Yaoyorozu.
"You girls got lucky!"
"I can't believe I'm saying this," said Scott, "but I agree with Logan."
The other X-Men flinched upon hearing Scott make such a claim.
"How are we supposed to trust a group of teenagers we barely know out in the field?"
"That is enough!" Everyone heard the words inside their own minds.
Everyone turned to Professor Xavier.
"Since we are in disagreement, and your new equipment will take time to prepare," said the professor, gesturing to the students, "why don't we take a break for now. Students, please take some time to explore our campus; I will discuss things with Logan and Scott in due time."
Logan left the room, angrily, with Pietro following after him. Scott was next to leave, followed shortly by Bobby and Wanda. With nothing else to do, the UA students excused themselves.
"Izuku, do you have a moment?" asked the professor.
"Can I help you, sir?"
"I wanted to speak with you."
Deku sat down.
"I noticed that if I went further into your mind that I would encounter some…significant resistance."
Deku froze up a little.
"You're not like your other friends. I can see there is something different about your abilities, and also that you have a great burden to bear, like you are carrying the weight of the entire world on your shoulders."
Deku scratched the back of his head. "You can tell?"
The professor smiled. "I often feel the same way. Please, tell me more about yourself."
Finally released from the meeting with the X-Men, the UA students took in the marvel of the Xavier's School campus. They had all seen it from the sky in the respective aircraft they had come in on, but bird's eye view didn't do justice to just how beautiful the grounds were. The lawn was cut to the perfect height, the hedges were expertly trimmed without a single stray branch, and the outer walls of the mansion were immaculately maintained. Students of all ages populated the campus – some of them moving across the yard to get to their next class, and others sitting on the benches during their break.
A trio of girls came up to them out of curiosity. "Are you new here, or new members of the X-Men?" asked one of them.
"Um, no, we're kind of just visiting," replied Uraraka.
"Do you want us to show you around?" asked another of the girls.
"If you don't mind, ribbit," said Asui.
"What about you, Todoroki?" asked Yaoyorozu.
"Go on without me; I want to talk to one of the X-Men we met earlier."
With that, the girls went on a tour of the campus. Bakugo had stormed off somewhere as soon as they had all left the parlor, and Midoriya stayed behind to speak with Professor Xavier some more. That left Todoroki to go find the one member of the X-Men whose name caught his interest.
"Bobby Drake, right?" he asked the young man reading under a tree.
"Didn't expect to see you again so soon," he replied, getting up. "It was…Shoto Todoroki?"
"That's right."
"So, what's up?"
"In the meeting, you said your Hero Name was Iceman, right? Does that mean your powers involve ice in some way?"
"Sure do," replied Bobby, as he rapidly froze his hand over to demonstrate. "What of it? You have ice powers, too?"
"Yes and no; the right side of my body produces ice while the left side produces fire. I was wondering if could 'compare notes' so to speak."
"Okay," said Bobby, with an eager smile on his face. "Sounds kind of interesting. Follow me."
On the side of the mansion, Logan leaned over one of the verandas and smoked a cigar. He often came here when he needed to calm down, as it was away from any students – the professor didn't like it when he smoked around them. Despite the thick tobacco smoke hovering around him, his animalistic senses allowed him to catch the scent of a recently met boy walking up behind him.
"Hey, what's your problem with us?"
Logan didn't need to turn around to know who it was – the scent and voice were enough to tell him it was the angry blonde kid with the spiky hair from the meeting. He slowly turned to look at him.
"What do you want, kid?"
"I just asked, what's your problem with us!?"
"My problem is that I don't like working with third-rate punks like you."
"Third-rate, my ass! We've run missions with Pro Heroes plenty of times back in our own world! What makes us any different from that other kid that was on your team!?"
"The difference is that I've worked with him before, I've seen his training myself, I know he's a professional. I don't trust a bunch of self-admitted trainees that I've never seen in action before; it would be no different from asking to fight alongside the students at this school that haven't even joined the X-Men!"
The blonde kid gritted his teeth. "That's not the same thing and you know it! We've taken down actual villains before; I'm not about to let you go disrespecting us and treating us like we don't know what we're doing!"
"Oh yeah? Alright, prove it, you little shit; show me what you can do!"
"Gladly!" the kid said, as his hands began sparking.
Chapter 16
"DIE!"
The leaves of the tree branches shook, the glass of the windows rattled, and the dirt of the ground was sent flying into the air; a massive explosion spewed forth from the veranda on the side of the mansion, and a man in jeans and a leather jacket was sent hurtling through the air, into the forest. An angry teenager with spiky, blonde hair rocketed after him.
Bakugo landed in a clearing. Logan, the Wolverine, stood waiting for him; the wild-haired man's clothes were torn and singed, and his skin was burned from the explosion, but the burns quickly faded away as if they had never been there to begin with.
"That all you got?" Logan taunted.
That was all the warning Bakugo received before the Wolverine charged forward on all fours. Just before the angry mutant's fist connected with Bakugo's face, the explosive young hero blasted himself into a backwards somersault, and then used another explosion to launch himself forward at an upward angle; as soon as he was directly over Wolverine, he fired another blast straight down. Before the backblast could propel Bakugo further into the air, a hand reached up from the plume of flame and pulled him back down. His face about to hit the ground, Bakugo fired off another explosion from each hand – one straight down to stop himself from hitting the dirt, and another in the direction of his manhandler to blast him away; but the Wolverine did not let go so easily, and the two of them were sent flying across the clearing together.
When they landed, Logan pulled himself on top of Bakugo, still holding on to his leg, and used his free hand to punch the boy repeatedly. Bakugo used his arms to block the consecutive blows; the man's fists hurt like hell, as if they were covered in plate armor, but Bakugo's sturdy bones and muscles held firm, and when the sweat in his balled-up fists had become sufficiently prevalent, he turned his palms outward and pushed them against Logan's chest. A huge blast flared out high enough to clear the treetops, causing the veteran hero's grip to finally loosen. Without missing a beat, Bakugo popped up onto his feet and faced his opponent, certain that the fight wasn't over. Wolverine stepped out of the flames, his peeled skin and charred muscle regaining their fleshy hue and regrowing in a matter of seconds.
Bakugo grinned manically. "That's some impressive healing you got there; guess I don't need to hold back with you!"
Wolverine huffed in anger. "Yeah? C'mon then, you little shit. If you're so eager to fight, prove you can hold your own!"
Logan charged Bakugo once again, but the explosive hero was ready for it; the X-Man's go-to strategy seemed to just be blindly rushing his opponent, and with his healing abilities it wasn't hard to see why. Bakugo let off another huge explosion, but Wolverine shoulder-charged right through it, letting him close the distance. Wolverine was on him with impressive speed and threw a flurry of punches, but Bakugo managed to swat them away by making his palms explode upon contact; as Logan's fists were blown away by the explosive parries, the skin from his hands was sheared away, revealing metallic bone beneath his flesh, only for it to regrow just as quickly as it had gone.
Seeing that he wasn't going to be able to take his opponent head-on, Bakugo used his explosions to launch himself into the air, where he bounced himself around like a pinball, creating smokescreens all the while; with the area covered in blackened smoke, Bakugo launched himself at Wolverine from behind, only for a hand to come shooting out of the smoke – he just barely reacted in time to miss getting grabbed. This man, Logan, truly fought like an animal, and had the instincts and senses to match.
Beneath the mansion, Bobby led Shoto Todoroki through the cold, metallic halls of the X-Men's underground bunker. Todoroki wondered how exactly the boy leading him was able to find his way around such a homogenous set of hallways, but he supposed it was just a matter of experience. After rounding several more corners, the boys arrived at their destination. The large, circular door opened, splitting the X embossed on its surface in two down the middle.
Inside was a small room with a desk practically made out of computer equipment, with a large, rectangular window on the wall behind it; the window looked in on a massive, empty chamber made purely of metal panels. Bobby got to work on one of the computer terminals, rapidly typing commands and adjusting settings.
"What is this place?" asked Todoroki.
"This is the Danger Room," replied Bobby. "It's a holographic training room that can be set up for whatever kind of training you want to do – sparring, simulated battles, fitness training, team exercises – you name it, this room can make it."
Shoto was almost speechless. "Impressive. Makes me wish we had a room like this at UA."
Todoroki watched as the giant room beyond the window opened several panels and reconfigured itself; a platform was raised in the middle of the room, several walls sprang out of the floor, and what looked like an obstacle course was set up on the far side. Next, lights flashed all around the room, and before his very eyes, the cold metal was replaced by an elaborate, Eastern-style training ground that looked like a mix between a dojo and a monastery.
"That look your speed?" asked Bobby, with a cheeky grin and a grand wave of his hands.
"It looks more like something out of a martial arts movie than anything I'm used to, but it'll do," Todoroki replied, with a slight smile; he could tell Bobby just wanted to show off what the room could do.
The two boys left the computer room through a door on the left side; after passing through a room full of equipment, in which they quickly suited up, they exited through another door into the Danger Room proper. Bobby led Todoroki to the raised platform in the middle of the chamber, which now looked like a concrete arena similar to the one UA used for its annual Sports Festival.
"So, you said you've got ice powers, too?" asked Bobby.
"That's right," replied Todoroki, as he made a chunk of ice in his right hand to demonstrate.
"Cool," said Bobby, who did the same. "So, how does your ice work, exactly? I can lower my body temperature at will, which makes the air around me colder, too; from there, I just apply it where I want it to generate ice."
"Mine's more or less the same – can create cold temperatures and ice directly from my body."
"Can you freeze up?" asked Bobby, as he encased his entire body in ice.
"Yeah," replied Todoroki, doing the same with the right side of his own body, "though I don't really use it like that anymore."
"Okay, let's see what you've got!"
Bobby shot several blasts of frigid air at one of the nearby pillars, freezing over the spots where they landed; Todoroki did the same. The two of them made increasingly large blasts of ice until they had encased several of the pillars, then had a race around the room using moving ice slides to propel themselves through the air. When they landed in the middle of the arena again, Todoroki made a massive glacier that covered half the room.
Bobby whistled. "Wow! That's impressive! Been a while since I've made something that big," he said, clapping his hands. "Hey…are you alright?"
Ice had begun to form all over Todoroki's body, and he was shivering from the cold.
"Are you not immune to the cold?"
"No, if I use my ice too much my body starts to freeze. I have to use this to balance it out," replied Todoroki, as he raised his left hand and heated his body with an orange glow. "Like I said before, only the right side of my body uses ice; the left side creates fire instead."
"Right, that's pretty interesting. We used to have a student here that could control fire, actually."
"Used to? Is he not here anymore?"
"No, he…he left a few years ago." Bobby looked oddly pensive as he said it, but perked back up before Todoroki could press the issue further. "Hey, how about we have a sparring match?"
"Sure," Todoroki said; he decided to drop the previous topic, seeing clearly that Bobby didn't want to talk about it.
The stood across from each other near the middle of the arena. They sized one another up, each waiting for the other to make a move. Bobby was the first to lose his patience – his fingers turned an icy white, as he raised his hands and shot a frigid blast; Todoroki was quick to react with an ice blast of his own, the two of them cancelling each other out in midair. The two heroes dashed around the arena, slinging ice at each other as they each tried to attack from an unexpected angle. Both heroes were experienced in a fight, however, and weren't tricked so easily. They each tried to use a huge ice wall to overwhelm one another, only for their attacks to collide and obstruct the field.
Siezing the opportunity created by the lack of visibility, Bobby conjured and ice slide and went around to the left, only to find his opponent nowhere to be found on the other side of the double glacier. He looked around and saw Todoroki had used the blind spot to make a move of his own, climbing to the top of the icy mountain for an attack from above; Shoto shot a wave of ice, but Bobby projected his own to make a shield. Just as their ice collided once more, a wave of flame cut through the frozen sheet and knocked Iceman to the ground. The X-Man quickly used an ice slide to cushion his fall and put himself back on his feet, and then matched Todoroki's fiery follow-up attack with huge wave of ice. Todoroki turned up the heat enough to completely evaporate the ice, but completely lost all of his momentum in the process, and so touched down on the ground to face his opponent once more.
"Not bad!" exclaimed Bobby, with a smile. "This is getting interesting!"
"Agreed," said Shoto, ready to continue the fight.
Back in Professor Xavier's office, Deku and the professor continued their conversation. Deku told him about One for All, about how his mentor, All Might, had gifted his power to him, all because Deku was willing to save someone without even thinking about it.
"I can see where your teacher was coming from," said the Professor, as he took another sip of tea. "That is an admirable quality to have; it's the kind of heroism that can inspire others – something I hope to accomplish with the X-Men, so that people will one day no longer fear mutants."
That caught Deku's attention. "Are mutants really that discriminated against here?" It was a question that had been on his mind since he and his friends had heard about it from Spider-Man.
"It has gotten much better with time, both through our own efforts, and also because heroes with strange powers have become far more commonplace over the years; but unfortunately, there are some who refuse to let go of old prejudices."
"And those are the types of people that Magneto fixates on."
"Indeed; so long as such people exist, Magneto will always see a reason that his cause must continue to exist," explained the Professor, with a somber tone. "But, tell me more about your own world, Izuku. How does it compare to this one?"
"Well, in my world, eighty percent of the population is born with some kind of power – I guess they would all be considered what you call mutants in this world; it's actually people born without powers that end up being discriminated against, like I was before I received One for All. There are still some people with Quirks that are othered, particularly those with heteromorphic Quirks – Quirks that give them unusual changes to their bodies; but, like here, that's changing due to a growing number of heroes that have Quirks like that."
Professor Xavier smiled. "Then it sounds like our two worlds aren't all that different."
"You seem happy about that. Is that really good enough for you?"
"The world will never be a perfect place, Izuku. Discrimination, criminality, villainy – these things are a part of human nature – they will never be gotten rid of completely; but, as long as the world has more people than not striving to stem the tide of such things and make the world a better place, then that is good enough – it means the world is on the right path."
"But Magneto doesn't see it that way; it'll never be good enough for him."
"Precisely; that is how a virtue – in this case, justice – can easily become a vice; and thus, a villain is born. I hope you take that lesson to heart and use it to become a better hero."
"I'll try, and I'd like to keep learning more from you while I'm here, if you don't mind."
"Of course not; however, it seems we'll have to cut our current conversation short – Logan and your friend, Katsuki, seem to be fighting in the woods on the edge of the estate grounds."
Deku shot up from the sofa the moment he heard that. "I'm really sorry about this!" he shouted, while bowing deeply. Before the Professor could even respond, the green-haired boy ran out of the office.
Back in the forest, Bakugo blasted Wolverine around the air like a pinball, all while bouncing himself around to strike the older hero from multiple angles; but the regenerating mutant took it all in stride and continued to fight. When he was close to the ground, Logan extended metal claws from his knuckles, skewering the ground with them to break his momentum and prevent Bakugo from sending him flying again; the next time the boy got close, the Wolverine gave him a trio of shallow cuts on his hand, causing him to jump back in retreat.
Bakugo curled his bleeding hand into a fist hard enough for his knuckles to turn white. "Those are some gnarly claws you got there, and that healing is nothing to sneeze at, but I'm willing to bet there's a limit to how much punishment you can take!"
Logan spat blood and saliva onto the ground next to him. "If there is, I haven't found it, and you won't either."
"We'll see! Let's go for one more round!"
Bakugo placed his uninjured hand behind him, his palm sparking. Wolverine hunched over with both of his fists extended out to his sides, claws drawn. Bakugo shot an explosion behind him, propelling him forward, while Logan charged on all fours.
"That's enough!"
Before the two feuding heroes could react, they were knocked down and bound to the ground by thick tendrils of black and green energy. They looked over and saw Deku standing in the clearing, his body surging with teal lightning, and a furious look on his face. A number of students from the school had also gathered in the tree line, having likely been drawn over by the noise from the fight.
"Shit!" exclaimed Bakugo, as he relaxed his muscles.
Logan let his breathing calm. "Alright, I think we're done here!"
Seeing that the two of them no longer had the will to continue fighting, Deku pulled back his Blackwhip and let them go.
"Well, how 'bout it, old man! You eating your words yet!?" said Bakugo, continuing to egg on the veteran hero.
Deku was about to reprimand his abrasive friend again, but Logan responded first.
"You've got skills, I'll admit that much; but I won't be satisfied until I see how you and your buddies work together as a team. Gather everyone up and meet me in Xavier's office! We'll settle this in the Danger Room."