My Hero Academia: From The Ground Up

Chapter 16: Igneous

The three friends agreed to avoid the lines in the building and see what was outside.

"What should we go do first?" Ochaco asked.

"Let's go grab some grub. I don't know about you nerds, but I'm starving!" Katsuki requested.

"Yeah, why not." Ochaco shrugged. "Izuku?"

"Yeah. That doesn't sound like a bad idea." Izuku said with a supportive smile.

"Course it doesn't! When is food a bad idea?!" Katsuki rolled his eyes and began to run to a set of food trucks all parked in a circle with picnic tables and shades set up in the middle.

Izuku and Ochaco gave chuckles as they ran to catch up.

There was a very Americanized sushi food truck that they decided to give a try. They got their food trays and paid, then sat down.

"I've been thinking a lot about what All Might said." Ochaco opened up.

Izuku and Katsuki took a break from stuffing their faces to look at her.

"I don't know what exactly he meant. We all could use improvement in a lot of ways, but to get into UA... All it really takes is to pass an entrance exam. There's a written portion and a physical test. I've done some research on it." She explained.

"That doesn't sound too hard." Katsuki shrugged and continued to eat.

"I'm just..."

"You're worried about me." Izuku said. "I have a chance with the written portion but the physical... It may require use of a quirk. All Might wants us to work together as much as possible but..."

"I still believe that can help benefit all three of us." Ochaco said.

"Then let's just focus on what we can do between now and the day of the physical exam." Katsuki suggested.

"I don't want to end up slowing you guys down." Izuku frowned.

Katsuki glared at him. "That sounds like you're losing confidence in yourself. Get it together, Deku! We got this."

Izuku wanted to say something, but he didn't want to keep things so negative. He didn't want his burden to be theirs as well, but he decided to drop the subject for now.

"What if we all start a workout routine together?" Ochaco asked. "Maybe we could look for All Might and ask him for some exercise pointers. Quirkless or not, every hero has to be in their best physical state to do their job. Even the fatter heroes use that to their advantage and must keep the form."

"You're right!" Izuku smiled. "We should look for one tonight and start tomorrow morning!"

"Don't forget to study, nerd. We still got the finals coming up before school gets out." Katsuki added.

As they talked and ate some more, they began to feel the ground beneath their feet and the table they were sitting on shake. Another moment of stillness, then another tremor.

They each looked at each other and stood up.

At that instant, a loud booming sound shook the entire scene.

They turned their attention to the convention center and stared face to face with a colossal villain that appeared to be made entirely of some kind of crystal or mineral.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Katsuki yelled.

"Some kind of villain! We have to get people out of here!" Ochaco shouted.

"Got it!" Izuku said.

"EVERYONE! RUN!" Katsuki roared to the crowds around them.

He didn't have to tell them twice.

"What about the people still in the building?!" Izuku asked.

"We should make sure they can get out! I'll make sure no debris gets in the way!" Ochaco announced. She began to charge toward the front doors closest to them and away from the towering villain.

"I AM IGNEOUS, CONSUMER OF ALL POWERFUL STONES AND METALS!" The villain boomed as he swung a massive arm into the convention center.

The walls and windows caved in around the arm and crumbled to the earth below instantly as his laughter echoed through the city.

"I'll distract him!" Katsuki volunteered. Before Izuku could protest, he ran straight toward the legs of the villain.

"I'll uh... Do st-stuff!" Izuku declared to himself out loud. He looked around for anyone in peril but just as he was beginning to run to the building, he bumped into Mariko again and both fell to the ground on their butts.

"OW! Aughhh." She rubbed her temple and looked at Izuku. "Oh! What are you doing?!"

"I'm....going to see if people are in trouble in there." He said.

She smirked then looked back behind her.

A young boy still in his first year junior high uniform stared at her with concern.

"Go to the train station and wait for me there! I'm going to help these people!" She ordered him.

Without argument, except for a frown, he turned and ran away. Izuku noticed his right arm was covered in what looked like large brown scabs, or perhaps some sort of physical quirk.

"Let's go show them what us quirkless can do!" She declared and held her hand out to the green haired boy.

Izuku looked down at her hand then glanced up at her with a confident smile. "Let's go!"

He gripped her hand and they both stood back up and dashed to the building. As they ran inside, they watched as All Might lunged out of the second story window towards the giant crystal criminal, carried by his fists right into the face.

Now inside, they could see the ceiling had caved in multiple places. Many people were climbing over the debris to get to the doors.

Izuku could see Ochaco tapping at the larger chunks which had several patrons pinned down. He could see that she wasn't looking too good. And the sight of some blood on the floor under the rocks wasn't very pleasing either.

"What can we do?!" He asked Mariko.

"Let's pull some of the debris away and carry the injured outside!" She ordered.

"Okay!" He complied and immediately began pulling rocks and pipes off the large piles.

Mariko used a large piece of rebar to pry a large rock out of place to let a couple civilians climb out. They each had blood coming from their heads as they passed her lumbering together to the doors.

Izuku had the feeling to go help Mariko on her end when he watched the villain's arm crash through the walls again and land just over her. His fat stubby crystal fingers held her captive.

"IZUKU!" She cried out.