Chapter 86: Ultimate Moves

Back in school, it might still be summer break, but the hero course has no time to rest as they're gunning to develop ultimate moves before they take the provisional liscense.

"I would also like to head off," Todoroki announced.

“Yes, but don’t forget to brush your teeth.” Iida reminded him as the students started to part ways, but one of them wished to say something while those whom they wished to were present.

“Before you all go, can I say something?” Midoriya spoke up, his tone implying this was important enough that even Bakugo, who would have otherwise ignored, stopped.

“Sure, what’s up?” Tetsutetsu asked, only for Midoriya to catch everyone by surprise when he moved to the centre of the room, facing them, got onto his knees…and bowed, his helmet's faceplate pressed to the floor.

None of them knew what to make of this, and several of his friends were already moving to try and pick him up when he spoke, his words so soft and vulnerable. “When I was in the hospital…they told me what happened, or I saw what happened on the news with…” He didn’t finish; he didn't need to.

They had all seen the fight and its news coverage after the fact. Things…things hadn't been clean. And no one felt like it was a victory with how much was lost. But they could only imagine how much it would hit them in the gut if they were in Midoriya's shoes.

“But they said that, I was stopped because of you guys.” Midoriya continued, his suit of armour shaking as he tried to keep his cool, but he was always an emotional person.

“Tetsutetsu, Kirishima, Todoroki, Tsunotori, Yaoyorozu, Kendo, Monoma, Komori…” He listed off, as he didn't have someone explain it to him. he had seen it; each time he asked to rewatch the events, he saw his friends there, even if only to the sides, helping clean up his mess. He couldn't imagine how scary it had to be, how much they must have grown to hate him. "If not for you, then…I don't know what I would have done, how many more people I could have hurt."

"Hey, you didn't do anything; that bastard villain was the one who caused all of it." Tetsutetsu tried to tell him, as he didn’t like how this was going.

“Yes, he seemed like quite the arrogant bastard. Seeing him be bested was a highlight of the night.” Monoma added to this, others agreeing with him.

"Still, I…my fire did such terrible things, but you guys…you guys stopped me, so thank you," Midoriya sobbed, at least, they thought he could, as they only work off sounds, unable to see his face, unable to give him a hug. “Thank you so much for what you did, and I’m sorry I was such a problem. I promise I won’t ever repeat it!”

“Midoriya…” Iida uttered, as he hated this. Midoriya seemed to love life and cherish it and others. He could recall how Midoriya had been jumping for joy during the entrance and how, without prompt or personal benefit, he healed Uraraka. How he'd done the same for his brother.

He didn't deserve this. Being so terrified of his own power, he freely surrendered himself to a walking prison. He clenched his hands as he recalled that villain, as he had to be truly vile for this to be the result of his madness.

One other wasn’t going to just stand and rage as Tsunotori cried out. “Hebimi!" She threw herself onto Midoriya and tried, without success, to lift him up as, oh God, was his armour heavy. "You didn’t do a darn wrong thing, you hear me, and I’ll keep on saying it till you come out of your shell!”

“Yeah, we didn’t think for a second that you were at fault.” Kendo tapped his side, using her quirk to make him stop his dogeza.

“It’s your quirk, but someone else messed with it. You can’t be held responsible for that.” Todoroki, of all people, spoke up. As this…felt like what he went through, though instead of fearing his flames, he hated them, seeing them as part of something else, as a reminder that he was a tool of his father's ambitions.

But Midoriya had quite thoroughly beaten that out of them at the Sports Festival, so he would do his best to help him now, though he would prefer things didn't get violent.

"Yeah, but you can trust us till you finish cooking in there. But don't think we'll go easy on you in training." Tetsutetsu promised.

"Please don't, I need to train more than ever…" Midoriya nodded before brushing off non-existent dirt from his armour. “Okay, thanks for listening, good night.” With that, he turned and quietly went up the stairs, at least as quietly as he could in that suit, so that they could hear each step till they faded.

Once Shoji and Jiro confirmed his bedroom door had opened and closed, Kendo turned to the rest. “We’re not letting this go, are we?”

“Hell no, he’s getting out of the suit.” Ashido pumped her fist.

“Can that be before, or after we break into Tartarus to punch that All for One guy in the face?” Monoma mused, seemingly thinking of ways to do just that.

“Monoma, that would be highly illegal!” Iida scolded, though the way he was looking, Pony wondered if he was also considering it.

Line Break

“Wha-!” Pony jumped as she woke up, wondering where she was, as this might be all her stuff. Still, her bedroom at her place wasn't…“Oh yeah, we’re in the dorms. And I’m gonna be late!” Climbing out of bed, she threw on a shirt, having slept without one, and grabbed some things before heading into her bathroom to brush her teeth.

She would wash her face, do up her hair, and with the impeccable smell test, confirm that her last night's shower was still good, so she would head straight for the common area, finding many others present, some already in school uniform, others not.

“Morning, sleepy head.” Tokage waved at her as she ate a bowl of cereal. Kendo sat next to her with eggs, toast, and a half-finished cup of coffee.

“Morning…” Pony groaned as she set her plate down, as Sato and Shiozaki were manning the kitchen and, for their first day, went out of their way prepping breakfast for them, and in her case, she snagged some waffles, maple syrup, and a bowl of oatmeal.

“Already finished?” Tetsutetsu asked, his question directed towards Midoriya, who had been politely seated on the couch, unlike the rest. He didn't wear the regular uniform; instead, he just wore a tie with U.A.'s crest, and that was it.

“I’ll wait outside so we can all walk to class together.” Midoriya stood and walked out the door, though they could see from the window that he had merely taken to sitting on the steps, rocking back and forth, probably humming a song.

“Was he?” Pony started to ask, but Kirishima knew what it was and stopped her.

“Yeah, got up even before Iida, I didn’t think it was possible.” The redhead pointed out.

"It's true, he was in the midst of cleaning his breakfast dishes when I came down," Iida confirmed, as he had always been an early riser, and today, he had been especially antsy. He thus woke up even earlier than normal, only to spot Midoriya already in the commons, wearing his suit as he put his dishes in the dishwasher.

“So, you didn’t see him eat?” Sero asked, and when Iida shook his head, Sero snapped his fingers. “Darn, I would have wanted to see him do that with the suit on.”

"He ate Sato's cake last night, but I was a little distracted, so I didn't see how he would do it." Tokage reminded them that she wished she had more of the cake, but that could come later.

“Maybe the suit opens and he quickly snatches it up.” Pony suggested.

"Or the face place opens up and allows him to eat normally," Monoma added, which seemed more likely to him.

“I didn’t see any latches on it. How'd that work?" Tetsutetsu questioned that assumption.

"Let's focus on eating our own breakfast, unless you want to be late for class," Kendo spoke up, as they didn’t have much time as is.

"No way, Vlad-sensei's eyes get super scary when he's mad," Awase whined, as Vlad could be weird, incredibly supportive, and goofy, but when not impressed…

“Beats that Aizawa-sensei would do to us, I can never get a read on what he's thinking," Kaminari muttered. Still, he and the rest finished their food without issue.

Line Break

Getting dressed, they all made their way to class, arriving in time, as, while it was still technically summer break, none of them were planning to see what their teachers would do if they slacked off. Thus, they were all seated and waiting for Vlad when he came in, the man pausing only for a moment when he saw Midoriya, but most missed it as he took his place at the front.

"All right, despite things having gone, we're still aiming to get you all provisional licenses, which doesn't leave us much time." Vlad started, though Shishida raised his hand.

"Pardon me, sir, but what is a provisional license? You haven't explained it." He asked, as they've heard the term more than once now, but it's never been explained.

“Have I?” Vlad asked, but was coughing into his fist. "My bad, must have slipped my mind. To put it simply, a provisional license, or its full title, provisional hero license, is a sort of training wheels for students like you."

“As you might have noticed during your internships, outside extreme examples, you didn’t participate in what many of you must deem as ‘real’ hero work.” Vlad looked at a view as he said that, those students wincing at being called without words, but Vlad didn't linger. "There is a reason for that, the fact that none of us would have clearance in normal circumstances."

"What about what happened with Todoroki, Iida, and Midoriya?" Komori questioned, since fighting someone like Stain seemed core hero stuff and super dangerous. The villain sliced off Midoriya's limbs so much that it must have made clean-up a challenge.

Vlad grunted in agreement with that. "Like I said, normal circumstances. Midoriya was not sent after Stain, but attacked and fought to defend himself, as did Todoroki and Iida. But with a provisional license, you'll be treated more like sidekicks and play larger roles in the operations of hero agencies, which could include handling villains and investigations."

He raised a hand, a finger up. "However, it might just be training wheels, but as de facto pros, you'll have a lot more responsibility on your shoulders, so the exam to gain one is incredibly strict and has high demands."

“How high?” Kaibara asked, as U.A> already had an insanely high entrance rate, just 1 in 300 who applied through the general exam made it through.

"It rarely passes more than half. And you could be up against hundreds who, unlike you, would mainly be second and third years." Vlad told them, which led most to lose confidence. As they made it into U.A., they faced other people fresh out of middle school. Now they would face people who had at least a year of training under their belts?

"Oh, crap, that sounds like we'll be fighting a high hill battle in roller blades." Awase cursed.

Kendo raised a hand, clearly worried for her classmates and herself. “Sir, if everyone else will be at least a year above us, shouldn’t we wait till we’re also second years, or is this a U.A. thing?”

Vlad shook his head. "No, we might do things our own way, but that doesn't normally mean sending first years with less than 2 semesters' training into this. However, we don't have the luxury." He crossed his arms, looking especially angry, though not at them.

"The USJ, Hosu, I-island, and now our summer camp. Like it or not, you're all finding yourselves targets or just dragged into villainous activities." Midoriya flinched at the last one, but the rest could see what was angering their teacher, the fact that even when minding their own business, villains decided to make moves.

Tsuburaba reached for his chest, as the smoke inhalation from the USJ was minor and he got past it with treatment, but that didn't mean he liked it. For Monoma, he recalled how he had been shot at I-Expo, having healed as fast because he copied Midoriya's quirk and its inherent healing factor.

But for Yanagi and Tsunotori, it was the summer camp they recalled, and how close to death they got. For Pony, she might have gained a new level to her quirk, but she still knew so little about it.

“So if we have licenses, we’ll be more able to defend yourselves?” Honenuki figured, to which Vlad confirmed.

“And gain more detailed experience outside the classroom, so you’ll have a more refined skill set.” Their teacher added, but he didn't wish for them to enter this blind, and while not good news, it was important news. “That’s not everything. You’ll be up against the U.A. crush.”

His words confused the students, who shared looks among themselves, trying to find someone who could figure it out. But when the geniuses like Honenuki and Tokage, and the hero nerd Midoriya, had no clue, they turned back to Vlad. “Is...that some sort of extreme U.A. exam?” Yanagi inquired.

“No, it’s quite the opposite, we have nothing to do with it.” Vlad corrected. “Remember how hard it is to get into U.A., and how many of our students go on to become top pros? Well, the other schools remember that, too. So, every time we do this, they always try to take out as many U.A. students as possible."

“Wait, so they’re just gonna jump us? How is that fair?” Kamakiri asked, as that just made things harder for them.

“Not to mention no other school broadcasts its Sports Festival, so they'll know what most of us can do, but we'll be going in blind. Those aren't good chances." Tokage thought aloud, as it would be like playing shogi, but not seeing the other player’s pieces till after they made a move, several moves.

“It’s not, but neither is being a hero. Think of it like this: when you go pro, it won't take long before you're well known, especially if you're higher on the charts. Even so, you gotta clock in, get things done, and save lives, often against near impossible odds." Vlad reminded them.

“So…is this like a preview of that?” Midoriya asked, getting another nod and grunt from Vlad.

"Correct, which is why we're putting you through your paces and ensuring that all of you develop at least 2 ultimate moves.” As Vlad made that announcement, the door opened up and Midnight, Snipe, and Ectoplasm walked in.

“Ultimate moves?!” Some of the class called out.

“Oh yeah!”

Joining their fellow teacher and pro at the front, Snipe started things. “I’m betting you all know what an Ultimate move is, but just be sure, it ain’t just a fancy attack. It’s gotta be your ace in the hole.”

“The more unique, the better.” Ectoplasm nodded as Midnight posed, the woman always ready for such.

“Cementoss is right, your moves in part, are going to represent who you are. How you stamp your name into the profession, and save lives even in a pinch. It’s why those who don’t have one are fools.”

Line Break

Getting into costume, they were told to meet at a different training facility than their usual one, though Midoriya again surprised them when he didn't change into something new; he just removed the tie. “Like the USJ, our Unforeseen Simulation Joint training facility, gym Gamma is known as the TDL, or Training Dining Land.” Cementoss, who was already present, explained.

"Does the principal like finding loopholes for copyright?" Yanagi asked, as this was no mere chance.

“Right you are, but that’s for another time.” Midnight confirmed, but pushed past it.

Cementoss knelt and placed a hand on the ground, shifting it to make a scale model of Mt. Fuji. “The USJ was designed by Thirteen so she can better teach students like you how to handle disasters. But this TDL was my creation with my abilities in mind, so that I can shape and change the field to suit our needs, so you learn to serve up justice." Shifting the concrete again returned it to normal.

“So we’re learn how to fight better here?” Kamakiri asked, eager to get started.

Ectoplasm slowed him down. "Not necessarily, the exam doesn't just judge one's fighting ability, but your ability to gather information, make decisions, act on that, and cooperate with others. Its goal, after all, is to judge how well you would handle the many crises that heroes handle in real life.”

“As for ultimate moves, they don’t need to be purely combative. Take Ectoplasm and his Giant Bite Detention, it can be used to fight, but it can also be used to transport civilians and wounded allies to safety, or detain villains.” Vlad pointed to his college, but if that wasn’t a prime enough example, one of his students had gone above and beyond on that front.

"Midoriya has displayed 4 Ultimate moves so far. His semi-transformed state, Yellowstone mode, gives him a big boost to his speed, strength, and reflexes; Serpent’s Fireball is a ranged attack which he had control over, so it’s good against fast or moving targets; and Serpent’s Fire Scales is ideal for multiple targets for a multi-directional assault on a single one, you get the idea.” As he spoke, the rest of the students turned to Midoriya, who didn't seem surprised or nervous, but it was impossible through that suit of armour.

“Oh shit, I didn’t even realize.” Tetsutetsu thought it, wondering how it never crossed his mind.

“I wanted to name them like All Might, but at the time, I couldn't really get his moves down," Midoriya informed them, as he had made those moves. At the same time, he was still mainly an All Might fan; even though he believed the man wished to arrest him, he couldn't break his admiration for him.

Midnight smiled, and she knew she was getting a reaction out of him. The former shrine worker was far too innocent not to blush when she would give even the easiest of moves towards him.

"No worries, my soft little snake boy, the fact that you made them unique to you is a strength, and because you made them to cover a variety of ranged and uses, they'll come in handy as you'll perform much more consistently out in the field." She noted that, as he had gone and created a pretty varied toolkit, some pros, by virtue of their quirks, could only narrow it down.

"The training camp was all about increasing your power output, but it got interrupted, so for the 10 days, you'll be spending your time here, working on taking what you learned about your quirks and your limits and creating ultimate moves, make me proud," Vlad instructed, and his students didn’t disappoint.

“Sir!”

Line Break

As demonstrated, Cementoss shifted the terrain of the massive warehouse, creating ledges, platforms, and valleys of varying levels and heights. Populated it, aiding each student with their training was an Ectoplasm clone.

“What is your idea?” One such clone asked Awase, the boy looking through a pile of debris, tools, planks of wood, and sheets of metal.

Picking it up, he tossed it in his hand, testing its weight as he replied. “Well, I’m thinking of speeding up how fast I can weld stuff, that way I can make barriers or restrain people, but it takes a while.”

Ectoplasm took a couple of seconds to think it over and give his response. “How long do you need to touch something?”

"Not long, just takes concentration to get it done right." Awase proved it by picking up a piece of metal, placing the two together for only a second, using his quirk in that time, and then dropping them. The weld was so weak that it snapped when it hit the ground.

"We'll work on that. With any luck, it'll become as natural as breathing." Ectoplasm started while another clone worked with Tetsutetsu, as Cementoss had created various barriers of different thickness.

“Tetsutetsu, show me what you got.” He called out.

“You got it, get a load of my steel fist!” Tetsutetsu, always eager for training, activated his quirk and rushed through he barriers, punching at them as hard as he could. He shattered the first with ease, but needed a couple of hits for the second.

"Komori, let's work on how many types of mushrooms you can create at once." Off to the side, far from the rest, with mini mountains keeping the spores from possible spreading and interfering with the rest, one Ectoplasm clone was helping Komori.

“Okie donkie, oh, I've been working on this since I was 10." She smiled, her eyes flashing with the joy she could only feel when she did stuff like this as mushrooms popped into existence around her, even on her hands as she petted it like she would a small bird.

“Why am I doing this?” Tsuburaba asked as he was instructed to keep a consistent breathing rhythm while doing squats. If that wasn't weird enough, he was told to cup his hands to his mouth every now and then and try to use his quick.

“One, we’re working on your breath. Two, it helps if you can use your hands to shape your air constructs.” Ectoplasm explained, which drew Tsubaraba’s attention.

“You think that’s possible?” He asked, only to be told to get back into form.

"We won't know till we try. When I was younger, my limit with clones was just 4," Ectoplasm revealed.

As they worked, another clone stood with Tsunotori, the girl's horns looking noticeably different from the beginning of the school year, which was part of the slight issue. “With you, you’re in a unique position. Quirks rarely undergo such a radical evolution, so let’s focus on learning what you can for now, Tsunotori.”

Pony, for her part, seemed determined to do just that. As she still didn't understand what she did to Muscular, she blamed the blood loss, but the doctor's report had been shared since she was the reason for his current state. “Right, I’m gonna master this.”

“Midoriya, I hope you’re not getting distracted.” Midoriya jolted, looking to where his Ectoplasm clone was supervising his training, which at present was just basic combat moves with the armour.

"It's just…all my ultimate moves require me to breathe them out, but my suit was designed to counter that." He stopped as he reached for his face, his armoured hand contracting with the metallic plate. It was why he felt a little weird about the praise early, as he couldn’t use those Ultimate Moves now, not when he was a walking danger.

Ectoplasm had plenty to say about that, but now wouldn’t be a good time for any of it, so he focused on the issue at hand. “What about Yellowstone? Is that still viable?"

“I’m using it right now; it’s why I’m moving so fast.” Ectoplasm was glad his mask kept him from exposing how surprised he had been by that statement. He…he hadn’t even felt the temperature shift as it normally would with Midoriya’s abilities. How good was that suit of regulating temperature?

Lucky for him, thinking about his prosthetics was a specialty of his, so he pivoted focus. “Then we'll work on your physical capability for now; however, you'll need a new means to expunge your flames if you're not leaving the suit."

“Yes, sir…” Midoriya confirmed as he went back to combat kata.

Watching all of this, Snipe and Vlad stood to the side. "As the kids working hard, or hardly working?" They turned to see All Might at the entrance, the number one still having some bandages on him, while he walked in wearing his suit sans jacket.

“All Might, I wasn’t expecting you.” Snipe nodded in greetings.

"Haha, well, as a teacher at U.A., it's only right I make an appearance, even while wounded." All Might hadn't done much hero work since Kamino, but he had made appearances, if mainly around U.A. It didn't help that people were spooked that he had been down for so long, but considering the battle, it wasn't something he could avoid, and with his effective hero time less than an hour, he had to be wise about it.

"Don't let Eraser rub off on you, he'll show up for work even if he were in a full body cast," Vlad muttered, as sometimes he wondered if Aizawa had nerves or even felt pain. Others wondered whether the man just hated time off and relaxation, since he had already made a point of handling nightly patrols at least 4 times a week.

All Might chuckled, choosing not to touch that issue. "So, they're working on their ultimate moves?" he asked.

"Yes, we don't have much time; the sooner they figure them out, the more they can refine them." Vlad frowned, as this was extreme, even for them.

All Might smiled and gave a thumbs-up. “Why don’t you let me try and deliver some wisdom?”

“You?” Snipe asked, as it was an open secret how bad a teacher All Might was. Man still used scripts and would read right out of textbooks.

“Of course, I have not just been sitting at home, but Principal Nezu has been putting me through teaching crash courses.” All Might smiled, but it strained as he revealed what had been taking so much of his time.

Both Vlad and Snipe lowered their heads. “I am truly sorry.”

“Some moments, I’d rather face All for One again…” All Might shivered, as he couldn’t get the crackling Nezu out of his mind, but he could focus on this as he approached the first student he saw. “Young Shiozaki, might I offer some suggestions?”

Shiozaki turned her attention to him as he gestured to her hair and the ground. "Your quirk allows you to burrow through the ground and feel out your environment and people. Why don't you focus on creating an unseen net of sorts, with you at the centre?"

Shiozaki blinked before she, too, glanced at the floor, then at her vines, which rose around her like tentacles. “I will try.”

With that done, he moved on to the next student, who was working in an area Cementoss had made to have plenty of shade. “Kuroiro, you can move through dark places, but is that all you can do? I mean, you are becoming one with the darkness.”

Popping out from one shadow, Kuroiro hummed as he thought it over. “Hmm… I have only ever ventured into the dark as a refuge, but maybe…I shall see what I can uncover, All Might.”

All Might didn't stop there; it seemed that his issue had seemingly just been his teaching skills, but he had good suggestions overall and got into good discussions with them, the same as he had with class A earlier, if Midnight was to be believed. It was a serious improvement, but it chilled his bones as it had Midnight’s

'Nezu, if he could see this now, he might try and get all of us back on board for his weekend classes…' 'Oh, who am I kidding, he's already watching this, isn't he?' He sighed, knowing this could come back to bite them when Nezu decides his staff could do with a refresher course.

Line Break

Here we are, the last chapter of Path of Waves…for the year, don't worry, I'm not dropping this story, I still have plenty of ideas, but I need the break and almost as important, I need time to put those ideas to paper, as for the last few chapters, I have not been working with notes again. So I'm going to take time to think things through, make concrete notes, and write down ideas so I don't run into problems later or forget details.

However, as the last chapter was long, like seriously so, I barely got it out on time, I aimed for this one to be a little short, and no, that's not because I was watching The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity, I actively avoided it till this was done so I wouldn’t burn away precious free time.