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CHAPTER START---
"I hope this is about some more good news," Nezu says as he answers his phone, putting Eraser Head on speaker.
The principal was currently in his office doing some paperwork this Sunday evening.
"Nothing but good new, I suppose," Eraser Head says. "I'm about to leave Central Hospital, got done with Eri."
"And what did we learn?"
"Well, to the surprise of no one, Horizon was right. Her Qurik: Rewind, it's an accumulation type. She stores time and distributes it like a virus to infect other people's time."
"That's a new one..."
"She has almost no control but since it's an accumulation type I just had her drain her storage on some of the emergency room patients, car accidents and such.""What about diseases?"
"It really doesn't work like that, if your body has something then she can rewind you to a less critical stage but the illness will still manifest eventually. All she does is buy you more time. But if you were hurt by someone breaking your leg, she can rewind you, and then you just have to avoid that person so they don't do it again."
"So not exactly a healing Quirk. And can't be used in the same way as Recovery Girl's since that would also undo all the benefits of training."
"It also doesn't eliminate mental fatigue."
"I see, and how long before you bring her back to UA?"
"We'll be leaving soon, after making a few stops to get her some things she'll need to live at UA, but Nemuri should be able to handle that."
"Well when Horizon gets back to UA he can do further research on her Quirk, yesterday he mentioned that he's gained a new perspective on Chronos so I'd like to speak to him about that."
"What, is he planning to start time traveling?" Eraser Head scoffs.
"People cannot travel through time, it flows through us, and I doubt even he can manipulate time. He just thinks her Quirk is interesting, and is always excited to study things beyond his control."
"Right, you mad scientist types are exhausting to keep up with. But Eri's been asking about him a lot, Mirio is here with us, still hasn't left the hospital since she's here. But apparently Horizon didn't even introduce himself when he was healing her up, he just disappeared after handing her off."
"Well his bedside manner is famously terrible..."
"Everyone knows that by now, the kid wants to meet him...and Deku."
"I assumed as much, and Midoriya is having a chat with Nighteye and All Might at the moment, they should be here by the time you get back with her."
"Nighteye and All Might are talking again...whatever, I've gotta go. Lots of shopping to do."
"Have fun," Nezu giggles.
Eraser Head grumbles and hangs up.
Nezu taps a few keys on his computer, changing his screen to show Sir Nighteye, Midoriya, and All Might having a discussion in one of the training areas.
"Well at least now Midoriya knows the good news, Eri is safe...I just hope Horizon doesn't give him a hard time because of it. But I'm sure Nighteye is even warier of Horizon after what happened to Overhaul, but Horizon is still learning. They'll all see the hero he can be someday."
Nezu taps a few keys and pulls up a list of his student logs, since every time a student leaves UA they have to apply for permission and give a reasoning.
"Now I wonder how my other pupils are doing..." he begins scouring the Hero Network and UA cameras to check in on them.
---Training Ground Beta...
BOOM!
A massive explosion of fire and ice rocks the area, demolishing the small buildings and tearing up the road as it knocks Shoto and Bakugo away from each other.
The smoke and dust block their views for a while before it all settles.
Shoto gets up and pries himself out of some rubble, feeling pain wracking his entire body.
His right side frosted over and began to damage his skin, his left side feeling like its being melted. His regulation of his Quirk still leaves much to be desired, nowhere near Endeavor's control.
He walked out into the open just in time to see Bakugo stumbling out of a collapsed building. Bleeding from his head, his forearms bruised and slightly swollen. His PE Uniform is torn up even worse than Shoto's as he hobbles forward, fighting to keep his eyes open.
Shoto joined his training only an hour ago, but Bakugo has been here since sunrise. Fueled by his most recent and glaring defeat against Horizon.
Even more relentless in his training. Shoto could even see some of Bakugo's fingers turning purple, his self-destructive desire for perfection forcing him to throw himself against a perfect being.
And since he and Midoriya don't have Provisional Licenses either, they get to see the entire painful process.
A tragedy happening in slow motion.
"I think that's enough for today," Shoto says. "We should go rest up, classes resume tomorrow."
Bakugo scoffs and turns away, "If you're done then just go, I've still got training to do."
Shoto reaches out and grabs his shoulder, and Bakugo winces in pain, the constant explosions had dislocated it multiple times today, "You're in worse shape than me, that's enough for today."
"I'm not done," Bakugo shrugs his hand off and continues walking away. "I still have to get better..."
"By destroying yourself? What's the point of that?"
Bakugo turns around and glares at him, "What's the point of existing if I'm not the best?!"
"This isn't the way to get there."
"This is the only way!" Bakugo stomps back over to Shoto. "He's out there with his license, training, every single day! The only way we catch up! The only way I get ahead of him! Is if I train even harder than him! So that's what I'll do!" Bakugo takes a few deep breaths as Shoto steps back.
"Bakugo..."
"Save it," Bakugo's shoulders slump as a sad look overtakes his face. "This is the only way I know how to do things, it always works. Just train harder, do better, and do more. It's the only way I know, and it will work. Even against him...even against him," he tries to reassure himself.
Shoto gives him a sad look as memories resurface, memories of witnessing what self-destructive drive and ambition can do to a person.
Can do to everyone around them.
"Alright, well I'm done for the day, you have fun," Shoto says.
"Tch," Bakugo turns and begins sadly walking away, trying to ignore the outburst he just had. "I don't have time to waste, I'm winning the next Sports Festival, and the only way to do tha---"
Bakugo feels a slight pain at the back of his head as his world goes dark.
Shoto catches Bakugo after he knocked him out, and with some effort throws him onto his shoulder.
"I don't know if there is a way to beat Horizon, but if there is, killing yourself by overtraining won't help you," he mutters as he walks off, taking Bakugo to Recovery Girl. "Besides, Horizon is probably training right now, and I doubt his methods operate like this..."
---Elsewhere In Japan...
In a mostly empty skyscraper, there were a few people tied up, knelt down in the middle of the top floor.
They were all heavily armed with rifles and one had his left arm transformed into water which he was using to manipulate the locks of a massive vault on the top floor.
Three men in total, and seven hostages.
While two of the men were patrolling, constantly keeping an eye on the surrounding buildings through the one-way glass windows, above them floating at the ceiling was an eye.
The entire socket and eyeball detached, looking around the room carefully. Beside it was a floating right ear, and a right hand covered in purple fabric, holding a laser pointing device.
Setsuna Tokage of UA Class 1B, Hero Name: Lizardy.
Using her Quirk she can detach parts of her and control them independently, and when detached these parts can fly. After a certain amount of time, the piece with the most mass will begin to regenerate the others.
After a few more moments, she points the laser at one of the men, and taps a button at the side of it.
Meanwhile floating above the city, above that very building, was Majestic: The Magician Hero.
His Quirk: Magic, allows him to create energy rings that can transport people and objects or be used to attack his opponents. These rings can carry up to one person each and he can maintain up to twelve.
His street-magician-inspired Hero Costume appeared scrappy and haphazardly put together, accented by a large red wizard hat and a blindfold, a mishmash of disjointed colors across it all.
He was currently floating above the building on one of his colorful energy rings, alongside the remainder of Lizardy's body which was on another. Currently relaying information by speaking through her main body even while in the building.
They were floating high above so the villains that were looking down at the streets and other buildings couldn't see them. So their third member could attack.
Genesis, in her updated Hero Costume, was laying on a third energy ring beside Lizardy's, taking in all her friend's instructions as she aimed down the scope of her custom sniper rifle.
Her digital scope can't see through the one-way reinforced glass, but her bullets could punch through it, and Lizardy's laser was currently making her targets for her scope to show where she needed to shoot.
"3...2...1..." Lizardy's detached hand clicks down on the button, and the data is sent to the Genesis Rifle. "Fire!"
BANG!
The glass is shattered and the kinetic stoppage round slams into the man's gut, knocking him off his feet and out cold.
Lizardy instantly paint another target with the rifle, exactly as they trained, and Genesis lines up her shot with the second man.
"Hold..." Lizardy calls out as the men look at their unconscious friend and begin yelling at the hostages. "Fire!"
BANG!
As the second man took one stop too close to the glass he gets a bullet to the shoulder, cracking his shoulder and collar bone, knocking him against the wall hard enough to take him down.
"Final target?" Genesis asks.
"He's held up behind cover, this guy isn't moving Majestic."
"How much cover?" Genesis asks.
"Too much for you to safely make an armor-piercing round and fire through."
"I can make more than just bullets," Genesis says as she makes a special and much larger shell and then begins loading it. "Give me a spot close to him..."
"A new trick huh, fun, " Majestic says. "I knew you girls would be perfect for my style of recon and scouting work, but seems Genesis has some firepower too..."
She silently loads the special shell as Lizardy paints a new target.
BANG!
The man has his back against a wall, and suddenly just beside him it ruptures and a large deformed metal casing imbeds itself into the floor beside him.
"Huh?"
Before he could get away it pops and a cloud of tear gas invades the area.
He begins coughing and stumbling out of the gas, and as he does another shot is fired the moment he stepped in front of the glass wall.
BANG!
Later he would wake up in police custody with many cracked ribs, and these new Provisional Heroes would have their first interview, and make their true debuts to the world...
After getting back to the Majestic Hero Agency, Setsuna lays on the couch while Genesis takes off her mask, then immediately begins making some new weapons to work on.
"You should really take a break," Majestic says. "You two did good work today, and my wife is coming over with her famous rice bowls for us, you'll love em."
"Well I'm sure I can get in some training before then, the sun hasn't even set yet..." Genesis says as she sits down and begins assembling a new pistol.
"If you work yourself to death you'll never live to be a top pro like I know you can be, part of the job is knowing when to conserve your energy so you'll have it when needed," Majestic makes a glowing energy ring and sits on it, floating opposite them.
"Well, I suppose you're right. It would be bad if an emergency happened and I was already exhausted, right?" Momo asks.
"Exactly."
"But if there isn't an emergency, then I would have just been wasting time, hmmm, I'm not sure what I should do..."
As Momo begins to overthink Majestic just floats over to Setsuna who now had her mask off, "Is she always like this?"
"Mhm, but you'll have to forgive her," Setsuna says. "She's trying to keep with her workaholic boyfriend, but just between us, I don't even think the guy is human..."
"I heard that," Momo says. "And I assure you he's human, I just don't want to be left behind is all. In fact, he forces our entire class to improve much faster than we could have on our own."
Setsuna lays back down and detaches her arm, sending it to the fridge to get a drink. "I just think competing against him would lead to nothing but depression, just be the best Genesis you can be, that's all you can be after all. Plus, he already likes Momo, so that'll be more than enough."
"Just try not to overwork yourself," Majestic says. "People have to work at their own pace, and just because I'm sure he's off training right now doesn't mean you have to be, we did a lot of good and saved a lot of people today..."
Momo sighs, "yes, I suppose you're both right, and I should replenish my Quirk anyway."
"Mhm, also, one small detail," Majestic gets a bit closer to them as Setsuna cracks open her soda. "Maybe don't mention that your boyfriend 'inspires your entire class to improve much faster', that's sort of a dead giveaway that you're dating Horizon---"
He sees both girl's eyes open widely.
"---Your secret is safe with me, but as someone who is married to a fellow Pro Hero, it's not a fun thing for the public to know. Puts a lot of strain on your relationship. I mean when I got into the top 10 once my wife started getting a lot of hate mail and people were always saying I shouldn't be with a D-List pro...so even for a prodigy like you, I doubt they'd approve of anyone being with Horizon. It's just a headache you don't want, and a strain on the relationship that you'd be best without."
"Right," Momo nods bashfully. "Thank you, and also for not mentioning this to anyone."
"Yup, but that's about as much advice as I feel comfortable giving you girls about that, ask my wife if you've got any more questions, now, let's talk about a case we'll be working on tomorrow..."
"Tomorrow?" Setsuna asks. "Tomorrow is Monday, don't we go back to UA tonight?"
"Nope, this is pretty big, and we'll be working with some other agencies on it, so I've got you for one more day."
Both girls look at each other, then smile and turn to their mentor, ready for an extra day of hero work.
Anything to help them improve, as they're sure everyone else is constantly training.
After all, at UA, 'To stop improving is to fall behind,' a quote that seeps into every level of the academy.
---The Matani Estate...
While everyone else is training, bleeding and sweating trying to claw their way to the top.
What does the man at the very top, so far ahead that he's not threatened at all by them do.
Train? Further his lead?
Sometimes, yes, but sometimes you get to relax, to enjoy all the hard work you've done to get to where you are.
So while they were working, Law Matani is sitting at his pool with his shirt off, only wearing some shorts. The ocean breeze from his private beach was a bit more chilly as the winter season approached, but the heated outdoor area made it bearable, as did his company.
His tattoos on his left hand and arm were exposed, as well as his chest.
His right hand which was carefully playing with her curly white hair already had the tattoos redone early this morning onto the new limb.
The same beautiful woman with the Sheep Quirk he met all those months ago in Tokyo, once again sitting on his lap in a bikini, topless.
Leaning forward and pressing herself against his chest, her lips hungrily trying to devour his as she tries to get even closer to him.
After a week of none stop work, Law Matani finally gets to go back to his new family home and enjoy a relaxing day by the pool...
END CHAPTER---
Sheep Quirk girl from chapter 73...