42 Beneath the Stars

The sun flickered behind the passing trees, the loud yells of his classmates falling on deaf ears as he choose to ignore them. Trying to concentrate on the low hum of the bus engine.

This morning had been hell, he had been yanked around by everything that was happening and then yelled at by Monoma who he had slapped, just to get his quirk factor.

Soon they were on the bus making their way to the forest training lodge. The ride was full of yelling although Nick didn't pay attention to much of it, he talked to Mezo a bit but apart from that he was lost in his own thoughts.

Mostly about Shigaraki actually. He really hoped that the villains attacked the lodge. He needed to get All for One out of the picture and this was the start of a chain of events that would do so. But Shigaraki had been… different. He wasn't concerned about changing the plot anymore that much. The main reason he left him alive was because right now the man-child wasn't a threat. All for One was though so it was not a hard toss-up. He let the lesser threat go to lure out the big fish.

But who knows… things had changed already.

Leaning back he let out a sigh. The bus changed gears as he felt the engine shift and move with his quirk, it was fascinating just watching it work. Knowing they were slowing down he got his stuff ready as he saw the turnoff they were going onto. A watchpoint overlooking the forest below.

Following everyone out of the bus he watched as they all started to stretch but smiled with amusement and Sero's scepticism.

"LOCK ON TARGET WITH OUR SPARKLY EYES!" A loud and cheerful voice said.

"WHILE OUR CUTE, CUTE STINGERS STING!!" Another feminine voice called out.

""WILD WILD PUSSY CATS!"" They both called out together as Midoriya started geeking out at seeing them

And there were the pussy cats.

"These are the pro heroes that will be looking after you lot. The members of the Pussycats." Aizawa informed the still-stunned class, some from surprise and others from confusion.

"We actually own this whole area. And your lodge is at the base of that mountain." Mandalay said as she pointed at a mountain in the distance.

Seeing Sero start to suggest going back to the bus as he realized what was happening Nick just smirked as he locked down the floor around him with his quirk.

Ignoring the muttering of the class Mandalay continued. "Right no, it's 9:30am. If you make it early… you might get there around 12." Her voice was sinister as the class started to back towards the bus.

"All you kitties who don't reach the lodge by 12:30 don't get any lunch!" She said cheerfully as the class started to run back towards the bus, at least some did with Sero in the lead.

Hearing the regretting sigh of Aizawa he said, "sorry kids."

And the ground exploded.

As the dirt flew into the air clouding out the sun everyone felt their world start to tumble as the sudden wave of dirt threw them through the air. Through quick activations of quirks, everyone landed on the floor safely as well as the ground itself cushioning their fall.

"YOUR TRAINING CAMP HAS ALREADY BEGUN!" Mandalay called out.

"You can use your quirks all you like on our private land! You have two hour! Within that time, make it ot the facility on your own two feet!" She informed while healing against the railing. "And make it past… this forest of devil beasts!!"

Leaning her cheek against her chin she said. "Wow, Eraserhead, that's some messed up schedule you got for… um. Uh Pixie-Bob, you missed one." Mandalay started to say as she looked at Nick's back.

Nick was standing there leaning against the rail as he looked at his classmates start to fight a 'devil beast,' he wondered if he could do something like that.

"Hendrix, get down there and join your classmates." Aizawa said with a sigh.

"You got it teach, you know I don't like being forced to do things." Jumping down from the railing he crashed through the head of a devil beast.

Watching him fall Mandalay said, "so he's the kid that beat All Might huh?" Her voice peeked with interest.

"Yeah, I'm surprised you heard about that?" Aizawa responded.

"Nezu gave us all the test and quirk results so that we could better train your students… I thought he was a joke, to be honest. But clearly, he isn't." Mandalay finished. Watching the class start to tear their way through the forest. Some with teamwork and others with brute force.

---

Walking out from the forest Nick combed his hand back through his hair, it was currently 10:30, as Nick walked towards the forest lodge he saw that no one was around. Had the wild wild pussycats not gotten here yet? He had run pretty fast once he had pulled away from his classmates. They didn't need his help and it would help them grow.

He could have been faster but he had spent some time pulling apart 'devil beasts' to find out how they were animated and as he thought it was a unique feature of earth flow, it could create 'golems' unlike normal manipulation quirks. Wondering what her parent's quirks were he went over to a bench and sat down.

He wouldn't be able to replicate it without her quirk factor but now he was more interested than ever in taking a look at it. If he could make golems that would be immensely useful. If it didn't interact too much with his quirk then he would take it, for now, however, he would just put it in a stock that he could use later.

It would be a while before anyone else arrived, she had said around 12… until then he didn't really have anything to do.

Yawning he decided he would take a nap. Laying his head on the table in front of him Nick smiled slightly. The sun was really nice and warm… it was soothing out here, he was probably going to enjoy his time out here. Unlike the rest of his class.

---

Opening his eyes as he felt the air shift behind him he kept still, someone was sneaking up behind him.

With a loud "I claim him!" Yelled from behind him he suddenly raised the earth, grabbing the assailant by the wrists as they were yanked into the air and held there.

Turning around he saw Pixie-Bob hanging by her wrists.

"Oh, it's just you," turning to Aizawa he said jokingly, "how are you? Is the class doing well?" His voice was curious as his teacher came and sat across from him. Mandalay followed and sat beside him as he ignored the protests of his captured prey behind him.

"Yeah, there doing well, I'm not surprised to see you here though. Not going to go and help them?" His voice was curious.

"Nope, I mean even if I wanted to I don't think it would be best, they are here to learn and grow, so am I. This is a good challenge for them." His voice still carrying the dregs of sleep.

"Guess so, makes sense." He said before looking at Pixie-Bob. "you going to let her go?"

"I do apologize for her. She is in a huge hurry, she is getting to that age, you know?" Mandalay said. Her voice was genuinely a bit embarrassed.

"I am 16… is she a… like. Should she be going to jail?" His voice filled with mock concern as Aizawa snorted.

Looking at him for a bit in confusion Mandalay said, "oh right, you would be 16 wouldn't you. You look like 18 at least." Her voice amused.

"Yeah, she is like what… 30?" Nick said as Pixie-Bob started struggling even more with her constraints. Smiling he turned and dropped her as he held his hand out and said. "Nice to meet you, I'm Nicklaus Hendrix. Seems we both have manipulation-focused quirks."

"you are not 16, I refuse to believe that." She responded as she shook his hand.

As she shook his hand she soon settled down from the mention of her age. It wasn't long after that the space was filled with idle small talk as the evening slowly approached. And another sample was gained.

---

At 4:45 Nick turned as he saw his classmates start to walk from the forest and towards the training lodge. Smiling at them he waved at Mezo who gave him a really annoyed look. Doing his best to look sorry Nick couldn't help but break the appearance with a small smirk.

An entire half an hour and a bit faster than canon. That was decent. Mezo and Eijiro were stronger than canon but more so it was him.

Looking at Bakugo who was breathing heavily he noticed that the kid's shoulders were not shaking. Eyes widening a bit he remembered something. He had strengthened the kid's shoulders in the festival and he had never undone the change. That and his rage burning with new fire the kid was pushing his limits himself. He was growing and quickly at that.

Eyes narrowing he matched Bakugo's eyes and with a small wave, the boy turned away and clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Walking forward Mandalay said, "well that wasn't close to lunch time at all."

With some complaints from the class she laughed as Sero mentioned that her saying it would take two hours was a joke.

"Sorry! My bad, for us two hours is normal!" Mandalay said with a cruel glint in her eyes.

Soon Pixie-Bob congratulated them for brutalizing her earth devils but she didn't pounce on the four leaders of the class this time. Her sights were already set.

With Midoriya getting punched in the dick soon after by the little kid Nick couldn't help but chuckle. Turning to see Shoto pushing Bakugo's buttons he walked over to Mezo to stand with his class.

"Pipe down with the comedy act and go get your stuff from the bus." Aizawa said to the two bickering teens. Pointing his thumb towards the entrance of the lodge he said, "once you've brought your bags to your rooms, dinner is being served in the mess hall soon. After that you can hit the baths, then it's lights out. The trust start of the camp will be tomorrow. And be quick about it." Aizawa finished as he turned and went inside.

Following Mezo the two went and got their bags.

Soon they were eating dinner and relaxing and then shortly after that they were getting in the baths.

Without Mineta there nothing really happened. There was no reason for Midoriya to go full cowling in the baths and jump after a kid. As he relaxed, his eyes closed and leaning back against a warm rock he just let the water relax his muscles.

"So you really got that scar huh," Bakugo said as he stood over him. Opening his eyes Nick saw Bakugo standing there, towel around his waist as he looked down at Nick and saw the black carbon scar. The gruesome mark spread from above his right hip and out with jagged broken lines.

Looking down at it he ran his fingers over the surface of the mark. It was still cold despite being submerged in the water's warmth.

Feeling his threads move across his hand like the fingers of a ghost he shivered a bit. The baths had gone quiet. Looking up at his class he saw them all looking at him. He saw the reflection of gold in the water. Oh, his eyes had started to glow again. Cracks formed beneath his eyes.

Suddenly Ida piped up as he started to reprime Bakugo. "Bakugo! How you you be so insensitive as to say such a thing! This is a poor reflection on what a student at U.A. should-"

"-It's alright Ida. What about it Bakugo?" He said taking a deep breath and calming himself. The golden light fading.

"Your weak to aren't you?" The kid asked as he sat down in the water across from Nick.

"Yeah, yeah I am." He said plainly. Some of the class looked at Nick, confused. Expanding on it he said, "What? I am, I lost. I was beaten. Just because I beat All Might doesn't mean I am the best I can be, if he was aiming to kill me he probably could have won. If my entire body is destroyed then even I can't do anything. I won because he couldn't kill me. Simple as that."

"So yes Bakugo, I am weak. Why?" Nick said, turning back to Bakugo.

Gritting his teeth it was clear that Bakugo was struggling with something. "Why… why can you admit that with such a strong quirk you bastard."

"Simple, because my quirk doesn't make me great, I make it the best it can be." His voice is serious. "quirks affect personalities, that much is already known. Yours makes you an explosive asshole and mine inflates my Ego. But I am not going to be controlled by my quirk." Holding Bakugo's gaze he continued, "I am not strong because of my quirk, my quirk is strong because of me. You are not weak because of your quirk. You are weak because of who you are."

Feeling the backs of some of his classmates stiffen he looked at Midoriya, seeing the kid's eyes widen he saw that the kid had a realization of something. Probably something about All Might and how strong he was or something.

Standing up he said, "let's get some rest guys. We have a massive day tomorrow. Gotta get moving."

With the class sitting there for a bit more they watched Nick leave, some eyes following his scar and others looking down at their hands or laps.

---

Standing there before the sun had even risen over the mountains Nick was leaning against a tree as Aizawa walked in front of them and started to speak.

"Morning students, the true start to the boot camp happens today. The goal of your stay here is to toughen you up enough to get your provisional license. Villain activity is growing by the day, only slowed by the symbol of peace. This camp is to prepare you all to face off against it." His voice was firm. But as he looked over them all he could see that most of them had new steel in their eyes… what had happened.

"Which brings us to this, see how far you can pitch the ball Bakugo. It's the same as the one from the physical test. Your current record that you scored after entering U.A. is 756.8 meters. So let's see how much farther it is now." Aizawa said as he stepped out of the way giving the floor to Bakugo, he would have used Nick but that monster would not set the example he wanted…

As Bakugo stood there he tossed the ball in the air and caught it again as he turned to look at Nick, seemingly knowing why he was picked instead of Nick and it pissed him off. Lining up his throw he didn't have his classic scream of aggression. He was better than his quick, he was the reason it was great… he was better than everything.

With the crackle of air, a loud explosion sounded off with enough force that the tree waved backwards as instead of a classic explosion a beam was instead shot out before exploding outwards in a cacophony of blasts.

Eyes widening Aizawa looked at his measuring device.

1447.2 Meters. Well damn, that was impressive. Looking up at Bakugo he saw the boy smiling smugly at him. A snort came from Nick. He could work with it, these fucking monsters ruining his normal talks.

"These past three months you have gained a lot experience and clearly pushed yourself. You have certainly grown, but as we saw a quirk can grow to. We will focis on developing your physical strength and stamina and the like. As you saw your quirks can grow, and that is why, from today onward. You're going to extend your quirks. It'll be so tough you'll feel like dying. But please try not to…" Aizawa said as he grinned wickedly at the class.

---

Walking up the hill Class B looked in shock at the hellscape before them, the cries of the damned mixed with the wails of sorrow from those being hurt. Someone was being blasted by electricity and others were beating each other up and one kid was even boiling his hands.

It was hell.

With the introduction of the pussycats, everyone was soon put to work training their quirks.

In the distance Nick felt every atom around him, spreading his range as far as he could. About 30ish meters from what he was touching was his current range. As he grabbed every atom he could he felt his eyes flare as with both Endurance and Energy Saver he grinned. The entire area around him both above and below exploded in dust before reconstructing into another material. He was disassembling and reassembling complex items and machines. At least on the outside, he was doing that over and over.

With his main focus, however, Nick felt inwards to his 'storage' as he focused on making something special. A small tracking device that would communicate with him. It was purely organic and he could link it to his target to such a hidden extent that he hoped Kyudai wouldn't stumble across it.

---

Soon the day was over and dinner was being made, he did his part in cutting vegetables. Calling over Shoto he let the boy light his fire as he didn't want to be able to do everything himself. He wanted his classmates to see that if even he needed help and could grow then they would aim for greater heights.

He was changing the villains already, and then he would also change the Heroes.

As the night passed dinner was finished and everyone fell into their exhausted slumber he looked at the sky above him. The countless stars stretched across the dome of darkness.

Reaching up he clasped his hand over the moon… he would soon reach even even greater heights. He would rise above even the stars.

Heroes always get remembered… but he would be a legend.

---

Beneath the same stars stood a group of people clad in dark clothes.

"The gallant 'heroes' draped in emptiness, will fall back to earth." One said, his jet-black hair waving in the night breeze as he looked down upon the lodge. Emptiness in his heart.

"All for the sake of a glorious future…" His voice was quiet yet filled with barely contained excitement. He would tear all those that thought themselves above others back down to earth. Back down to the dirt they belonged in. Back to being little more than a weak… pathetic… mortal.

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Thanks for all the recent support! I'm really glad that people are liking the story that I just started to write to improve my skills. Thanks for all the feedback and advice that has helped me grow!

As normal reviews and comments are more than welcome, I love seeing all the advice that people have for me. It means a lot that strangers are willing to offer help! Let me know what you think of that chapter!