Act One: Foe Or Friend?

The path continues at journey's end. Who is he, foe or friend? Behind closed gates does the final curtain rise, unveiling our demise.

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What does it mean to be the greatest hero?

The night sky was painfully dark, and the air unnervingly motionless; a stark contrast to the policemen bustling around a cordoned patch of soil. Men in hazmat suits were bent over, meticulously sweeping every inch of the soil with high tech looking devices.

Among them stood a tall blonde man dressed in a colourful costume, offering comfort to a small group of victims. It was really just the children who needed the comforting presence of Japan's Number One Hero though; everyone else was mostly unscathed from the train accident.

The blonde man turned his head towards the sound of tires screeching, observing a thin bespectacled man stepping out of his car.

"Nighteye, nice to have you here," he said cheerily, keeping the Cheshire Cat grin on his face. After all, it was his signature toothy smile that soothed the thousands of people he had saved over so many years.

"All Might." Nighteye nodded at him.

The plain clothed man walked towards the chief detective, who was staring intently at something in his hand.

"You know, I'm not really the type of hero to inspire and comfort the masses." He shook his head. "So why call me all the way out here in the middle of the night?"

"Come now, Sir Nighteye." All Might's voice boomed over the whirring equipment. "I'm sure this has something to do with villains, or Tsukauchi wouldn't have wasted your time calling your hero agency."

Chief Detective Tsukauchi held out a small ziplock bag. It contained some soil, presumably originating from the cordoned off area, but something seemed to be off. Sir Nighteye squinted at the swirling purple mass in the bag.

"What kind of gas is that?" All Might echoed his thoughts out loud.

"We don't know." Tsukauchi shook his head "Preliminary investigations have revealed no match with any element on this Earth, and the energy state of the surrounding soil is also highly unusual. It seems that- I think it's better that you see for yourselves."

The man pinched some soil from the ground and dropped it into the bag. Nothing unusual happened at first, and then a striking glimmer shone from inside the transparent bag.

"As you can see, the gas transmuted the soil into some sort of metal," the detective said. "And that's not all it does. We have collected a multitude of various elements in the vicinity. We believe that this unknown gas can transmute elements randomly."

"Is this the doing of a villain's quirk?" Sir Nighteye asked, glancing at the overturned train in the distance. "But why use it to derail a train of all things?"

"We don't think a villain derailed the train. Not on purpose, at least," Tsukauchi replied grimly. "Although all the civilians were unharmed, many eyewitnesses saw a bright light in the distance before the train accident. What's intriguing is that their train was abruptly stopped by some kind of invisible force before it hit the ground. A small humanoid figure was seen scurrying away in the dark after that."

"Any clues as to who or what that is?" All Might asked.

Tsukauchi fished out a phone in response.

"An eyewitness attempted to take a video of the escaping figure. He could not get a clear shot, but he did manage to get-" The detective paused the video, pointing at a man staring in the distance. "-This guy. Looks familiar?"

"Giran, a broker with strong ties to the League Of Villains," Sir Nighteye affirmed, turning to the costumed hero. "That's what they called themselves, right?"

All Might nodded, his face a picture of grave concern. A group of villains calling themselves the League of Villains had invaded the USJ training facility a day ago, and now another one of their affiliates had conveniently showed up at an accident site.

He sighed wistfully, turning back at the accident victims being escorted back to the nearby Musutafu prefecture. The world was getting more dangerous by the day, and there were still so many people he wanted to save. But if he faltered for even a second, the symbol of peace he represented would be shattered beyond repair.

"Bad incidents have been happening one after another. What a pain," Sir Nighteye lamented as the scientists packed up their equipment.

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"Whatever the case, we have to be on guard for another attack," Tsukauchi commented. "The police will devote our resources into investigating this 'League of Villains' as well. I have a feeling that this is going to turn out to be much more than a mere accident."

The top hero turned back with a bright smile on his face. "Everything will be fine, gentlemen. After all, I am still here to save the day!"

"It seems your protégé has pretty big shoes to fill." Nighteye smirked, slightly amused at the hero's unbridled optimism.

"Let's hope he can live up to the greatest hero in Japan."

~ ~ ~

"Everyone! Morning homeroom is about to start! Stop talking and take your seats!"

Izuku Midoriya flicked his head to the source of the voice as his class rep, Tenya Iida, rushed into the classroom with his hands spread out like aeroplane wings. There was an awkward moment of silence as everyone stared at him.

"We're already in our seats. You're the only one who's not," his classmate, Hanta Sero, spoke up cheekily. Tenya walked back to his seat, muttering grudgingly to himself.

Izuku looked at his scarred hands again. It had been about a month since the USJ training facility attack, and the police still had no news about apprehending the League of Villains. He shuddered internally, recalling how close All Might had gotten to exposing his weakness to the world.

One For All was an incredibly powerful quirk that All Might had passed onto him, but he could not yet wield it without hurting himself in the process. Although he had been training ever since he recovered from his broken arm, he still felt like he was yards away from even matching his mentor's power. He had to get stronger, and he had to do it fast.

The sound of his classroom door sliding open jolted the boy out of his thoughts.

"Mister Aizawa, you're back already?" a girly voice exclaimed. "You're too much of a pro!"

Izuku glanced at her. Concern flushed all over her face, and her cheeks looked as pink as ever. Ochaco Uraraka was her name, and she was the first person he spoke to in U.A. High. He never properly asked her what happened during the USJ incident, but he was just glad that she was alive and well when it was all over.

He shifted his attention back to his homeroom teacher, who was almost completely covered in bandages from his severe injuries. The teacher had protected Class 1A by holding off a huge group of villains all by himself, though at the expense of having his face smashed into the ground by a huge monster called a 'Nomu'. Strict as he may be, Mister Shota Aizawa was a hero through and through.

"Glad to see you're doing okay!" Tenya called out, in stark contrast to the teacher's physical state. The class' attention did not linger too long on their teacher, quickly shifting to the foreign looking boy that came in tow with him.

"My welfare isn't important," Aizawa said flatly, gesturing to the shy looking boy beside him. "Sorry I'm late; I had a last minute request to pick him up. Go on, introduce yourself to the class."

"Hey everyone," the boy said in a surprisingly confident voice. "My name is Felix Pagonis, and I'm an exchange student from Greece. I entered U.A. High via recommendations. Let's be friends."

Murmuring broke out in the class immediately as Aizawa motioned the boy to an empty seat beside Izuku, who flashed an enthusiastic smile at the exchange student. Felix had brown hair, and looked slightly older than the average sixteen year old, which seemed to strike the fancy of some of his female classmates.

"Don't get too excited, class." Aizawa's gravelly voice cut through the commotion. "Your fight is far from over."

The commotion got worse.

"Our fight?" Katsuki Bakugo's easily recognisable rasp perked up.

"Don't tell me..." Memories of the villain attack flashed through Izuku's mind again.

"More villains?" Minoru Mineta echoed Izuku's thoughts from behind, his voice trembling in fear.

"The U.A. Sports Festival is drawing near," the teacher announced, silencing the class once more.

"That's a normal school event!" The class erupted in eager anticipation. Izuku stole a glance at Felix's confused look before leaning towards him.

"Our Sports Festival is one of Japan's biggest events. The Olympics were once the world's Sports Festival, and the whole country would be whipped into a frenzy about them," Izuku explained excitedly. "But now, the tradition has shrunk into a shell of its former glory. As far as Japan is concerned, what's taken the place of the Olympics is the U.A. Sports Festival."

"It's akin to Greece's famous Olympics!" Momo Yaoyaoruzu leaned forward from behind Felix, hoping to bring some familiarity to the exchange student. "I'm sure you know all about that, of course."

"Mister Aizawa, are you sure it's okay to hold the sports festival so quickly after the USJ villain attack?" Denki Kaminari asked, and a few of his classmates nodded their heads in agreement.

"The administration believes that this is a good way to show that the threat has been handled, and our school is safer than ever," Aizawa replied. "Plus, they're beefing up security compared to past years. Above all, our sports festival is a huge chance. It's not an event to be cancelled just because of a few villains."

The class fell silent in response, although some were still looking slightly concerned.

"Oh and one more thing." Aizawa pointed at Felix. "Since you're an official U.A. student for the year, you'll be required to participate in the festival as well. Do your best; the nation's top heroes will be watching."

"Same goes for the rest of you. You have three chances, once a year. If you're hoping to be a hero, this is an event you can't miss," the teacher said. "You'll gain popularity if you're picked up by a big-name hero. But your time is limited. Show the pros what you're made of, and you'll make futures for yourselves."

And with that, Mister Aizawa dismissed the class.

"Hey. You're Pagonis, right?" Ochaco hopped over to the new student's seat. "My name is Ochaco Uraraka. Nice to meet you!"

Felix stared blankly at her.

"Nice to meet you as well, Pagonis!" Izuku spouted enthusiastically as Felix's head whipped back to him. "I look forward to seeing you in action! Speaking of which, what's your quirk? What kind of festivals are prominent in Greece? Do you know the legendary Greek hero, Pankration?"

"I- Uh..." Felix mumbled unintelligibly, clearly overwhelmed by the boy's enthusiasm.

"Aww, he's shy." Ochaco giggled. "Come hang out with us for lunch! We'll tell you all about Japan and U.A. High."

She walked off to talk about the sports festival with her classmates, leaving Izuku to hound Felix with more questions.