Chapter 6: A Helping Hand
"We're going out mom!" Ben yells from the door.
"W-We'll try to be back on time, Mrs. Tennyson." Midoriya nervously adds.
Ben's mother shakes her head..."Alright alright, but remember! The curfew starts at 10!"
He shrugs in response. "Whatever..."
A week had passed since his first training with Midoriya and now, they were about to head off to another nightly session despite the limitation of his mother's house rules.
"How did it become a week already?" he thinks. "I guess time really likes to fly away..."
"Did you hear me Ben?" his mother asks back. As he's about to reply, his friend taps him on the shoulder.
Lowering his voice so that Ben's mother wouldn't hear, Midoriya says: "I-I won't be sprayed with water this time Tennyson." with a timid yet competitive spirit.
He wanted to laugh at that. Not because he was underestimating him but after seeing what came of him after the practical, it was great to see Midoriya cracking a smile and actually challenging him. It made him feel… helpful.
"Oh yeah? I guess we'll see."
Instead of being even more nervous however, his friend had a determined look in his eye. "I'm ready Tennyson."
"So am I."
The pair go out the door and close it behind them. However before they can get a move on, Ben notices something in the letterbox.
"I'm…" He thinks for a second. "...ninety-nine percent sure mom got the mail this morning." Inside, there was one white envelope with a seal..?
"Who even uses seals anymore..." At least he had the key to the mailbox on his key ring.
He took it into his hands and it immediately seemed heavier than the usual mail, like there was something inside of it.
"What the—" He saw the symbol on the seal. It was a giant A written inside an U... "OH… Yeah, it HAD been a week."
With the training sessions with Midoriya and binging the expansion pack on Sumo Slammers 4, no wonder he didn't notice.
"Maybe this isn't the time for this..." There was no doubt that he got in, the written exam could cut it close, but other than that, he had nothing to worry about. It was his friend's admission that was the problem. Speaking of which...
He then hears a whimper next to him. "Midoriya?"
His friend was clearly uncomfortable by this. Getting reminded of his failure, it stung. And it stung badly.
"I-It's okay Tennyson. H-How about we go look at our results instead?"
Yeah, Ben was feeling the stinging as well but he knew that delaying it would only be worse. "Sure..."
He went back inside with his letter and Midoriya started going down the stairs.
"Hey, what happened? I thought you were going outside." his mother says and notices the letter in his hand. "Wait! It's here?!"
"Yep..." She quickly gets up from the sofa and runs over to Ben. Someone was definitely excited…
He pierces the letter and rips the top of it in a line. Inside, there was no paper but a metal disk? "UA just has to flex its money..."
They place it on the coffee table and immediately, a holographic recording appears before them.
"I AM HERE! AS A HOLOGRAM!"
"What?!" Ben jumps from his seat.
"He's… All Might, right?" his mother asks while sitting next to him.
"Yeah, but what is he doing at UA?" He was expecting to see a teacher, maybe the principal but not the number 1 hero in Japan!
"AS ONE OF THE NEW TEACHERS OF U.A., IN MY HANDS I HAVE YOUR TEST RESULTS..." He has to take a look at the paper for a second. "...YOUNG TENNYSON. I APOLOGIZE AS I HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR A WHILE NOW."
He coughs in his hand. "FIRST, YOUR WRITTEN TEST RESULTS!"
Both family members were tense right now but this was especially the case for Ben. If he was going to fail this entrance exam, this was it.
"..." All Might continues to stare at the paper with his signature grin while also throwing glances at the camera.
"Tell it already!" Ben's mother gets up and yells. If only All Might knew that his mom did not deal well with tense situations…
Opening his mouth, he continues to bait Ben by continuing to wait a couple of seconds. Then, with his usual booming voice and throwing his hands in the air, he says: "YOU PASSED!"
"ALRIGHT!" His mother yells again and drops back down to the couch. "Oh my god..." She says with relief.
"I'M SORRY FOR THE WAIT, BUT I'M AN ENTERTAINER AS WELL AS A HERO!"
His mother laughs and starts to shake his son. "You passed Ben! This guarantees the general studies class!"
Yeah,the department of general studies was basically the top-notch UA education minus the hero stuff. No wonder she was excited…
"AND NOW, FOR THE PRACTICAL!"
In his mind, there was no way that he could have failed this part but… the stress was already there. This was the part that really mattered, whether he was going into the hero studies or not, whether he was going to be a hero or not!
"WITH A SCORE OF 53 VILLAIN POINTS..."
Ben grips his jeans . "All Might, please..."
"YOU PASSED!"
"Alright..." Ben takes a breath. All Might wasn't kidding. That was quite the performance as an entertainer.
He leans back on the couch and looks at the ceiling. He had done it… he did not let those 8 months go to waste. This… this was his starting line.
"BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!"
"You what!" He straightens back up. What else could there be?
"I COULD TELL YOU BUT WHAT ABOUT A VIDEO INSTEAD!"
A TV screen immediately comes on the screen and with the remote he got from outside the camera's lens, he presses play.
He recognises the recording immediately. The streets, the buildings… This was Battle Center J and the person in the center, currently on the ground… was Jiro.
Some dust falls through the front of the camera first and the whole debris of a building follows right after it but the teenage girl is saved right before that… by an orange&white creature.
"Ben? Is that you?" Back home, she had refused to see Ben while he was transformed and she still stood by that.
"Yep." he says as he continues to watch.
The point of view now changes to another camera, one that was inside the building where Cannonbolt unraveled after saving Jiro.
"You okay?" Cannonbolt asks.
"Yeah… thanks." Jiro replies.
"Don't mention it. Can you help me now?"
"What happened there?" his mother asks and Ben remembers how he forgot to discuss the exam after promising to do so a week ago.
"There was this giant robot during the exam, one that we were supposed to escape from."
"Supposed to?"
"Well..." Now how could he put this in a way that wouldn't result in a whole lecture…
"Jiro, can you check if anyone's stuck under the debris?"
"Uhh… yeah. Let me check." Jiro is then seen plugging her earphone jacks to the ground. "I don't think so but I can't tell… It's hard to properly listen with that thing stomping around."
"Ben, what did you do?"
His mother wasn't even watching the recording anymore, she had turned to look at Ben in the face and the young hero was nervous… to say the least.
"Can you check across the street as well then? I'll cover you."
Yeah, Ben's mother was reaching her limits. "You put yourself and your friend in danger?!"
"Mom, let me explain..."
"Do you really think sticking around is a good idea?"
"No, I don't. We should probably retreat like the others."
Ben's mother glances back at the screen.
But I have to make sure… Make sure that no one needs my help now."
Her expression grows softer...
"Sure… I can check."
"Thanks." Cannonbolt then rolls up and gets back on the street. "Hey toaster! Over here! You want someone to pick on? Try me!"
...But that doesn't last.
"You actually fought that thing?! What were you thinking?!" She yells.
Ben couldn't just sit still in silence. "We had to check if anyone needed our help!"
"This was a test Ben! You didn't have to be so reckless!"
Ben crosses his arms. How could she think of backing down from a chance to help someone?!
In the following scenes, bits and pieces of Cannonbolt's fight against the robot and Jiro's save were edited together and played. But, his mother wasn't watching anymore, she could guess what was happening from simply hearing about it.
The screen soon cuts back to All Might.
"A HERO'S JOB HAS NEVER BEEN TO SOLELY DEFEAT VILLAINS..."
He coughs again. "AND SO THE ENTRANCE EXAM WAS NOT ONLY GRADED BASED ON VILLAIN POINTS EITHER!"
"What?!" Ben was superbly confused now. "But the orientation said..."
"PROMPTING OTHERS TO ACT, CORRECT JUDGEMENT OF PRIORITIES, SELFLESS PLAN OF ACTION…" He counts down.
"THESE ARE ATTRIBUTES OF HEROES THAT CAN MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE NUMBER OF LIVES SAVED! SO..."
A scoreboard appears behind All Might, showcasing the top 10 of the practical exam.
"RESCUE POINTS!"
Ben's mother looks up and tries to find his son's name from the scoreboard. 10… 9… 8…
"THEY ARE GIVEN BY A PANEL OF JUDGES."
7… 6… 5…
"THIS IS A JOB THAT REQUIRES RISKING ONE'S LIFE TOWARDS SAVING ANOTHER. IT IS THE OTHER BASIC ABILITY WE AT UA LOOK AT!"
4… 3… 2…
"IT GIVES US THE MEASURE OF A TRUE HERO."
Her eyes eventually meet her son's score. With a 47 next to the villain score of 53, he was…
Number 1.
"TENNYSON BEN, WITH 47 RESCUE POINTS… YOU HAVE ONE HUNDRED POINTS!"
His mom was flabbergasted. She was stunned. She was… worried.
Ben looks through the scoreboard. At number 8, he sees two scores...
"AND JIRO KYOKA, 38 RESCUE POINTS!"
"So a total of 60 for her… Not bad." He thinks before his eyes meet the score of the second person… "Midoriya Izuku, 60 rescue points..."
He remembers what Midoriya told him at the beach. "There was this nice person stuck under some debris…I jumped up and..."
"You rescued her huh..." he thinks. "Good job Midoriya."
"YOU ALL PASS."
Ben's heart was racing. Midoriya and Jiro made it in too. How could this have worked out better?!
"I HOPE TO SEE YOU IN APRIL, YOUNG TENNYSON. FOR NOW, THIS IS GOODBYE."
And the transmission comes to a close.
Ben had a big grin on his face. He actually put the Omnitrix into good use. He was… satisfied.
His mother takes out the small amount of paper that was in the envelope, trying her best to hide her shaking. She says: "You are in hero course class 1-A, Ben. Enjoy…" She then gets up and goes to the kitchen.
Ben expected a response like this and there… wasn't really much that he could do. He was going to prove his worth with the watch… he had to.
And before he can get to really celebrate, he hears someone knock on their front door. "I'll get it."
He was truly beaming and when he opened the door, he saw a greenette who was in the same situation… just with some extra tears in his eyes.
"Ayyyyyy! Look who made it into the hero course!" he says and raises his hand.
Midoriya high fives and tries to leave the tears behind. "Yeah. We did it, Tennyson!"
"But how did you get 100 points?! Did you use Water Hazard? Blitzwolfer?"
Ben puts one hand on his hip and rubs his nose with the other. "Heh, I guess you'll see in class. Speaking of which, which class are you in?"
"Umm..." he says as he takes out a paper. "Class… 1-A."
"Yep, we are in the same class!"
A notebook appears in Midoriya's hands. "Then I'll be there to jot all of your forms down, don't you worry!"
"Where did you get the notebook?" Ben deadpans. "Are we sure that his only quirk is super strength?"
Midoriya looks at the notebook in his hands and notices Blitzwolfer and then Water Hazard in his pages. "That reminds me Tennyson. Will we still go for training?"
"Yeah,ummm..." Ben starts with certainty but soon ideas start appearing in his head. "How about we celebrate instead?"
Midoriya raises his eyebrows. "Oh."
He then puts a hand behind his neck, smiles and says: "Yeah, we can take it easy for one day, don't you think?"
"Of course, I guess we could do that..." Midoriya says. "Any ideas on what we could do?"
"To be honest, I just want to sit down and not do too much for a bit. How about seeing a movie?" Ben suggests.
"Sure..."Midoriya says, building up some enthusiasm. "I know one in a mall not too far from here. The theatre is gigantic."
Ah, the mall. He still remembered just how badly his mom or Gwen forced him to go there in the good old days. "Sounds good to me." Ben replies.
"1 p.m. tomorrow?"
"Deal."
"It is your turn to be shocked now Tennyson..."
The night passes right by and with the clock hitting 1 pm right on the dot, the pair find themselves at the mall.
"Behold Tennyson, to the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall!"
"Wow…" Ben was just in awe. Maybe that was because he was just a Bellwood kid but there was just no way that this could have be the norm here. The mall was absolutely massive!
"Any idea on where to start?" he quips finally.
"Yeah, the theatre should be on the second level and third section."
"The what?" Ben says.
"But we still do have some time before it starts. So if you want, there should be some good stores in the fifth section we can check out. But the fourth section could also have..."
Ben sweat dropped. "Thank god, my mom doesn't know about this place..."
"Is there something wrong?" Midoriya asks, noticing Ben's expression.
"No, I was just wondering..." Ben gestures to the entire mall. "How are you counting the stores down from the top of your head?"
"Oh no, I just looked at this map before coming here." Midoriya says.
"Ah, can I see it?"
Ben flips through the pages. Yep, even on the map, the stores were promoted for what they sold…
His eyes then catch something else. "Ryloth, the Manga Storm?"
"It's a manga store in section 2." Midoriya then adds: "It also has some good merch..."
"All Might merch?" Ben quickly jumps on the topic which has Midoriya ending up nodding.
"Thought so. Want to stop by there after? Maybe there could be some new stuff." Ben asks.
"I was going to ask the same thing..."
"Cool. It's decided then. Now onto section..."
He turns to Midoriya for an answer and his friend completes his sentence with: "Three."
1 hour and 35 minutes later
"That… wasn't a very good movie." says Ben as he comes out of the theatre. "It was all very anticlimactic."
"Yeah..." Midoriya also joins in disappointedly. "I-Island is a metropol of top of the line technology. There is no way that they would get infiltrated and it wouldn't take 20 years for those scientists to come up with a vaccine for that zombie virus."
"The main hero also had a lot of plot armor." Ben notes. "Surviving a nuclear explosion? Yeah, not with that quirk."
Midoriya nods and while twiddling his thumbs says: "At least the effects were decent."
"And the costumes." Ben adds. "I can certainly give credit to them. Those things looked plain cool."
"I don't know about the visor." Midoriya says. "Maybe the main character would be better off without that addition."
"You know funny you should say that..." he starts while trying not to laugh. "As a kid, I always imagined a visor just like that in my costume.
"Really? Did you put one on your U.A. costume?" Midoriya asks.
"Nah." Ben waves. "But I might add one later, who knows."
The two continue to walk, still in the shock of the movie before they realize…
"So, what now?" Ben asks.
"Hmm…" Midoriya thinks and just spits out the first thing that comes to his mind. "We could always go to that manga store if you want."
"Sure." Ben shrugs.
The two go up the electric stairs to level 3 and walk to section 2. "Don't expect too much though Tennyson. It's just a small store."
He takes a look at the rest of the mall real quick. "Somehow, I doubt that."
"Oh look, it's over there." Midoriya points to the store.
"Ryloth, the Manga Storm..." Ben thinks. It was an average sized store with lots of merchandise from different anime and manga. "Guess the definition of small really changes in Japan…Let's see what we can find."
The pair head inside and quickly start walking by the categories.
As Midoriya passes by them, he points to every single one of them, making mental notes. "Okay so we have, action, drama, comedy, fantas— ah."
During his counting, he bumps into someone and stumbles, however thankfully Ben is there and prevents him from falling down. "Better watch where you're going, Midoriya."
"Y-Yeah, I should."
"Oh my, I'm so sorry about that." a high-pitched feminine voice says. "I didn't see you there."
"It's no problem—"
Before he can complete his sentence, Ben steps forward. "Pony?"
"Ben?!" She says excitedly. "You were here too?!"
"Yeah, we're celebrating the results from the exam."
"Really?!" Pony beams. "Me too. So, you two passed too?"
Ben nods. "Congrats to all of us."
Like he's reminded of something, he then steps aside. "And before I start to feel rude... Midoriya, meet Pony Tsunotori, she's also from the states and came by to take the UA's exam."
"O-Oh, nice to meet you Tsunotori." Midoriya nervously shakes her hand, which Pony finds funny.
"So formal..." she says in the middle of her brief giggling. "Just call me Pony."
Ben then carries on the subject. "So, what were you doing here, Pony?"
"Me? I was just checking out some manga, to treat myself with, you know."
Ben turns to the shelf Pony was in front of. "Oh nice, what were you—"
Gauntlet of Peril! Sumo Slammers: Hero Generation Chapter 6
Any pretense of cool headedness within Ben's mind goes out of the window right then and there. "You like Sumo Slammers too?!"
"Yeah! It's the best!" Pony says as she picks up the comic. "I kinda miss the classic series though..."
"I agree, everything used to have a lot more mystery..." Ben joins in.
"But I'm really liking the story arc."
Ben's smile grows larger. "Same! I'm dying to see the finale!"
Over Ben's shoulder, Pony notices the perplexed Midoriya. And Ben's gaze follows right after hers.
"Sorry about that Midoriya, we just sort of went on a whole tangent..."
"I-It's fine." he says nervously. "I've never seen him that excited before..."
"Oh, if you guys are down, can I join up with you?" She asks.
"T-That would be great Tsu-Pony." Midoriya answers, continuing to stutter.
She laughs. "You know what, just go at your own pace."
"O-Okay..." Midoriya clears his throat and asks: "Do you have any recommendations, Tsunotori?"
"Hmm… We could check out the fantasy section… I'm more familiar with those manga."
"Alright." says Ben and picks one of the manga up and starts going through the pages. It looked really cool. Who knows, maybe he could get used to sitting around and reading some manga with friends. What could even ruin this moment?…
Little did he know, conflict was brewing right above him.
Lying on top of the mall's roof, Rojo was cloud-gazing as a shadow got in the way of her view. "Oh good, someone finally showed."
It was a little man with a red and black color scheme, gray goggles with straight yellow lenses and a belt.
Rojo got up but he was clearly not the person she was expecting. However she rolled with it regardless.
"Love to see that the boss of yours is a no show. What happened, did the baby face get stuck in his feeding chair?"
Suddenly the man's grey belt-buckle lit up and a projection appeared right before her. He looked like a bulk, technological, heavy lifter with orange skin and two horns under his jaw.
"Hardy har…" He says with a rough and coarse voice. "Just be thankful that you can offer me something Rojo. If you really must know, I have some pretty important business going on here."
"Sure, sure." She shrugs it off. "I hope his excuses don't reflect on the product..."
"So, I expect your dwarf here brought the merchandise?"
"Of course." The man on the hologram orders. "Show her."
The little man takes out a small grey cube that was the size of his palm. He was mesmerized by it and as he was about to drool…
"HEY!" Rojo yells and grabs the product right from his hands. "Get your pet a leash, Vulkanus!"
The little man draws out a pickaxe from his back and points it to Rojo.
Hologram says: "Now for my payment..."
Placing the cube in her pocket, she takes out some money and extends it to the dwarf. However, it only makes him more angry.
"You know we don't do business with Republic Credits..."
"Yeah, I know. I just wanted to see if you were paying attention." She then takes out several rectangular, bluish-turquoise coins instead and tosses them into the henchman's hands. "We square?"
The boss counts the coins. "Yeah."
He then vanishes back into his henchman's belt-buckle and the dwarf puts back his pickaxe and runs away with his loot.
"It was great to do business with you too..." Rojo says monotonically. "Ugh, entrepreneurs..."
"At least they know how to deliver..." She then takes out the cube and picks up her water bottle. "Now then..."
"Time to open Pandora's box..."
"Do they have to be so flamboyantly dressed?" Pony asks, pointing at the manga she just picked up. "Like, they look too fancy to blend into the crowd, nevermind being part of the Italian mafia..."
"I get what you mean." says Ben. "But without the clothes… Are you really reading the same mang-?"
Suddenly the ground under the trio shakes and the sound of shattering glass follows right after.
"What the..."Ben springs up and immediately runs outside the shop. "Villain attack?.."
From what he could see, he was correct. Right in the center of the mall stood a large hulking humanoid robot that had no facial features and was dark-blue, black and grey. Ben's hand reaches for the Omnitrix but...
"Hey! You there!" a pro-hero calls out to the robot. "I suggest you stand down this instant."
The pro-hero's body seemed mostly wood, with only one of his eyes being visible from the outside. "This is your only warning."
"Oh yeah..." Ben sighs in relief. "The local authorities here were top notch."
He pulls his hand back. "They'll handle it."
Pony and Midoriya then arrive shortly to his side.
"What's going on Ben?" Pony asks.
"Looks like a villain attack..." he answers and then sees Midoriya's eyes beaming once again. "Oh no, here we go..."
"And Kamui Woods is on the scene!" Midoriya takes out his notebook and pencil, ready to write down any new move that he sees.
"Where did he get that notebook?" Pony deadpans. To be honest, she was kinda spooked.
"Don't question it, I never do." Ben answers.
In the meantime, the robot does not seem to respond to Kamui. It doesn't seem to even acknowledge his existence and the hero was very much curious. "You have an agenda, don't you?"
Despite not having a definitive face to speak of, he, step by step, observes the vicinity. It must have found its target, since it turns away its whole body from the hero and raises its head, looking at the familiar 15 year old with a green jacket.
The robot raises its hand and the wooden hero immediately follows its gaze. Seeing the situation, he stretches his arm to grab the robot. "No!"
He does grab the robot's hand and by retracting his own, gets in close and punches the robot square in the face.
The robot's head flinces but there was not even a scratch. "What..."
It's headpiece glows red and the robot then goes for a grab on his torso but the hero narrowly avoids it. However, his arm wasn't as lucky.
With one squeeze from the robot, it immediately snaps in two. He does manage to regrow it but the situation wasn't looking good for him.
"I didn't want to admit it but... I don't have the firepower to deal with this."
He yells to his partner. "Mt Lady! Evacuate the mall and call other pro-heroes, now!"
The blonde woman with the purple and pale-tan colored bodysuit responds: "Understood!"
"Let's see how much time I can buy..." Kamui then goes for swift attacks, mainly utilizing his speed and smaller size over the robot, whereas his opponent goes for heavy attacks that pack a lot more of a punch.
But seeing that it's having no success, the robot changes strategies…"What is it doing now?"
The robot's fingertips immediately light up and fire a blast right at him!
"Whoa." He dodges but then looks back at the point of impact. Thankfully no one was in the blast radius. "I need to prevent him from doing more of that..."
Like he's putting on a show. "Assault, property damage, and causing panic in the largest mall of Mustafu." His wooden arm slowly unravels. "You are the incarnation of evil and it is my duty to stop you!"
He rushes at the robot, swiftly closing the distance between them. "Pre-emptive..."
His arm rapidly branches out, and turns into a whole root of wooden construct. It grabs the robot by the arms, legs, torso and even the head. "...Binding Lacquered Chain Prison!"
His opponent finds itself unable to move. "Be still… We are getting a cell prepared just for you."
However, Kamui Woods had severely underestimated the robot.
Despite being tied up with some strong wood, the robot treated it as if it was just any regular-old rope and managed to bust through it, destroying the wooden hero's arm yet again.
In the meanwhile, our trio continued to watch this battle unfold with very different expressions.
Pony was despairing. "He's struggling. We better get out of here you guys..."
Midoriya put down his notes. He was shaky yet courageous. "No, w-we must help…We must keep the people safe!" After all, that's what All Might would do.""
"You guys need to go..." a third determined yet cheerful voice speaks out in the midst of them. It was Ben's and the Omnitrix was glowing green with a hologram displaying right before him. "I got this one."
Midoriya immediately realizes Ben's intentions but doesn't say anything. Pony, on the other hand…
"Ben! We can't fight that thing, we aren't pro-heroes yet." she cries out. However Ben doesn't waver.
After all, this was just why he put the Omnitrix back on his wrist in the first place: To save lives and defeat villains.
"And do what?" he asks. "Let him get snapped in two like a toothpick?"
He looks back at his soon to be opponent. "Besides, I have just the guy to deal with him." and starts scrolling through.
However it was all for show. In reality, he could barely pay attention to the holograms in front of him…
He was trying to play it cool to his friends but... he didn't miss that gesture, that aim.
This thing… was here because of him.
It was his responsibility.
It was hero time.
He stops on one of them but before he can slam it down, Midoriya catches his hand.
"What are you doing?" Ben says aggressively. Was he against this too? However, a corner of his mind did appreciate seeing Midoriya take initiative like that.
"If you are going to do this, I would suggest a more agile transformation..." he says with a determined voice. "The armor on him seems tough and I don't see a fist brawl being too effective..."
"A fist brawl..." he thinks as he looks at his selection again. It was one of his bulkier transformations but that… wasn't the problem. His pupils constrict in fear but he does his best to not give anything away. "Not that one… never that one…."
"Good point..." he says and scrolls to the right on the watch. "You guys should start helping with the evacuation. I'll be right back."
Ben then attempts to slam down the dial once again and this time, no one gets in his way.
"Just what hurts this thing..."
In the meantime, Kamui was on his last legs against this robot.
It wasn't enough that the robot wasn't taking any damage from him, he was also needing to regenerate his arms a lot.
At the beginning it wasn't that though but right now, after multiple regrowings,it hurt badly, oh so badly.
"Never mind me but could Death Arms even hurt this thing?.." He backs away. "The people that were around me have mostly cleared out so I can be a bit more free… but I must avoid all unnecessary damage."
Like it is in an enraged state, the robot runs right towards him and attempts to slap him away with his back hand.
He dodges of course, but as soon as the swipe motions complete, the robot turns its hand into a fist and punches the hero right in the face, getting him flown off to a nearby clothing shop.
Lifting his head from the pile of comfortable t-shirts, he says: "And he's learning…"
Whoever this is, they created some super strong tech. He could only hope that this was the only copy...
"I could just be their guinea pig… I don't know..." He touches his mask and can feel the cracks on it. "I am so outmatched."
The robot stands before its opponent and prepares the repulsor on his palm for one final blast.
He was down bad. If Mt. Lady's call was going to count, now was the time!
The blast grows but he refuses to close his eyes.
Just then!
"Hey Terminator! Catch!" yells someone from the side and a green ball of slime hits the robot right in the face.
Despite struggling, the slime doesn't last and the robot pulls it off from his head with his hands. "I don't know about doing that. Now, time for my favourite part!"
The slime lights up and explodes right on the robot's hands!
"Ugh..." Kamui lifts himself up. "Finally some help..."
But who was that? Mustafu didn't have a hero that had 'Explosive Slime' as their quirk. Maybe a passerby pro-hero…
"Down here pal..."
His thoughts are cut short by the very same quippy voice and when he looks down, he is slightly spooked by what he sees.
The "hero" was small yellow and insect-like. It had black eyes with green pupils, four stick legs, a beak, an antenna and lastly a symbol of green and black on his chest. "Talk about a mutation quirk..."
Looking down, he says: "So, I'm guessing you're the one responsible for the slime?"
"Yeah, and you're welcome." The hero answers. "Now let's blow up this guy to kingdom come!"
"Hang on a second…"
"I don't think we have a second."
Kamui Woods turns his gaze back on the smoking robot. The explosion of the slime had destroyed some of the plating on his hands and arms but…
"It can regenerate?.."
Sure enough, the plating built itself back up and the robot was once again coming right at them.
The little hero spits out another slime ball and dodges the attack while rolling on it.
Kamui dodges too but he had many questions about this new 'hero'.
"I've never seen a pro-hero like you before. Mind sharing your name?"
Like he was proud of it, the 'hero' says: "It is... Ball Weevil!"
"Ball Weevil?" Alright, it was official, he had no clue who this guy was. He better ask about it around the police station later.
The robot was coming around. This time, ready to blast them both with his lasers.
"Woods! Get behind me!"
He ran and did as he was told. Right as the robot fired, Ball Weevil got off from his ball and started enlarging it.
The laser went right into the ball but rather than going through, it got dispersed like salt in a glass of water.
The robot eventually stopped and when he was done, the ball was as large as Kamui Woods. And…
"Right back at ya!"
Ball Weevil kicked the ball right to the bot and exploded it at point blank range, with some of the slime splatting around.
"Watch it!" Kamui raised his voice. "We want to avoid collateral damage here."
"Sorry but I couldn't risk it by keeping the yield down."
He shakes his head. It was incredibly reckless of him to do that. What if there were still people there? "Just be more careful from now on."
"Understood and, I don't mean to be rude here, but you better get clear." Ball Weevil says. "Just, a hulking robot with pristine plating does not seem like your element, that's all."
"Are you sure that you don't want my assistance?" The small hero was right but still…
"Yeah." Ball Weevil nods. "I'm sure."
The explosion cloud was dispersing and through it, came the robot, ready for round 2.
His head piece was lighting up and the pair had no idea if it was possible or not, but the robot seemed… mad.
Ball Weevil turns to his opponent and creates another ball for himself to stand on. "I saw some people that still have not evacuated on the way, can you take care of those for me?"
Kamui Woods takes position. "I'll come back for you as soon as I'm done."
Yeah, he was. He had no intention of letting him leave without learning his identity.
However, instead of rushing, the robot starts to shoot at them from afar, keeping his distance from Ball Weevil.
Like the roles were reversed, it was now Ball Weevil that was rushing. "Go!"
Kamui nods and elongates his hand. He swings away, leaving the two of them to their fight.
"It's just you and me now, tin can." he thinks as he continues to roll his ball forward.
The robot lifts his hands up to block.
But the impact never comes…
"Look out, I'm coming through! Want some of this?!"
Turns out Ball Weevil had circled around instead, growing the size of the ball instead of attacking. The slime was now as big as the robot and it was coming right for him.
However, the robot wasn't about to be defeated so easily…
As the ball came towards him, it raised his arm and shot the floor right above him.
It came crashing down on him of course, but it almost gave him a decent shield for the upcoming explosion. Almost…
The right arm was almost ripped away from the main body, only hanging on by a thread. And everything else wasn't faring much better, with cracks and holes covering them due to the impact.
But it could still regenerate.
"If only I made the ball a bit bigger..." he instinctively thinks but he knows why that can't be. He was practically nuking the area already and if he continued to use more force, he would bring down the whole mall before the robot.
He couldn't muscle through this one… But that didn't mean he was out of options.
"If the outer shell is protecting him… then let's see what he will do without it…"
But before he can act, the robot throws out an attack which he dodges.
"Easier said than done though...and then there is the rapid regeneration… If only I could sneak an attack through..."
Little did he realize, he was thinking out loud, probably because of hanging around Midoriya so much.
And someone was hearing every last detail of it.
"Is anyone there?!"
"Midoriya, here!"
In the midst of Ball Weevil's fight, there were still some unfortunate souls that were caught in the crossfire. And during this instance, a whole store entrance was crushed, leaving a poor mother and her child stuck inside. However, a certain greenette and blonde was there to save them…
"You ready?" she asks and he nods in response. "Here goes..."
Pony then released two of her horns and they each lifted a big piece of the rubble respectively. Despite not using his quirk, Midoriya's job was to get in between, help hold the two pieces together and form some kind of doorway for the bystanders to pass.
As the two got out, the pair also released their hold.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!" The mother said while carrying her son in her arms.
Midoriya smiled. "It's no problem. Are you hurt?"
"N-No, we're fine."
Pony, pointing to one of the green signs. "Then, follow the signs and get to the emergency exit quickly. Police and the ambulance should be arriving now."
She nods and immediately starts running. However, a pro hero then lands right next to her. "Ka-Kamui Woods."
Groaning from the pain of the battle, he points to the exit, signaling her to go and then turns to the students.
"You too children, we can't have you staying any longer."
The duo look at each other and Midoriya says: "W-We can't yet, there could still be more people under this rubble!"
"And it is MY responsibility to save them from that condition, is it not?"
"Y-Yeah but!.."Midoriya can't take this in. He could admit that he wasn't too useful in this situation but his efforts weren't in vain. They had just saved 2 people together.
"Isn't it better if we work together though? We could reach so many more people!"
Kamui doesn't budge however. "There is no need for you to recklessly risk your lives like that..."
He then sees something in Midoriya. "Hey… Aren't you that kid from way back then? With the sludge villain?"
Midoriya tenses up and sweat drops. What an honor it was to be remembered by one of the rising pro-heroes of Japan…
...Too bad it was arguably at the worst possible time.
Out of options, he points to the heat of the battle. "Kamui Woods..."
The duo turned to watch the battle and Midoriya wasn't a pro hero himself but the battle was like an open book to him. Ben was holding up fine but that was all there was to it, fine. Ball Weevil couldn't fight back properly due to the property damage but he wasn't letting himself lose either.
He was dodging, weaving and exploding parts of the robot but sooner or later, he knew Ben would run out of time.
"If only we could put an end to their fight..."
Pony turns to Midoriya concernedly. "I agree but what would we even do?"
Midoriya hated to admit it but she had a point. Pony's quirk was to shoot the horns on her head. His quirk was definitely out of the question and the wooden hero's quirk proved to be ineffective. What would be the appropriate strategy for them?
"Kamui Woods!" says another voice as he gets closer to the trio. "Pant… pant… the inside..."
"Umm..."
"Sorry." The teen catches his breath. "I heard your partner talking, Kamui Woods. He's planning to get some slime inside of the robot but he can't get an opening."
Both Kamui and Midoriya put their hands on their chin.
"It's a simple plan but not easy." Midoriya mutters as he taps his chin. "Getting the timing right can be tricky even with the robot stopping to move what would they open his armorwith?Theycan'tuseslimeasBenwouldneedtoproducemoreandlagbehind...
Midoriya didn't realize it but he had started to murmur and all three of them were looking directly at him.
The teen asks Pony: "Are you getting any of this?"
Pony replies: "Every fifth word maybe?"
Kamui clears his throat. "Ahem… Well, thanks for the information."
He pats the teen on the back. "I'll go see what I can do."
Midoriya snaps out of his thoughts. "Wait, but we can!—"
But before he could protest, Kamui Woods had already swung away in the direction of the battle.
Midoriya was frustrated. He knew the hero was right but he couldn't just turn tail… That wasn't what he was taught…
And some people might have been feeling the same way.
His eyes drift to the teen that just arrived. The teen had made his hand into a fist and was shaking. He clearly wanted to join in and do something, anything.
Pony was unsure but seeing the two boys fired up, she couldn't back down either. So, breaking the silence, she says: "We are going, aren't we?"
Midoriya turns and says: "W-We have to, don't we?" and notices the horns on Pony's head once again. "And I might have an idea…"
"Here is a new special move!" Ball Weevil yells as he springs up and forward from the debris. "Because what else do I have left to try?.." He opens his bug-like mouth and a whip made of slime comes out.
"Woah woah!" With his whip sticking, Ball Weevil swings round and round on the robot's arm and finally lands on the ground like a performer at the circus. "Ta da!"
The robot is about to smash him for his showmanship but that's when Ball Weevil chuckles. "Ha-ha! No need for applause!"
Before the robot can do anything, the green slime on his arm lights up and explodes.
The impact of it blows the robot back and has him crash on a wall. "I already know I'm a blast to watch!"
He then ponders about his improvised move. "Detonation cord… Huh, guess you should try some stuff you see at home." Well, he wasn't exactly home but the point still stood in his head.
The robot lifted itself back up but felt unusually light on his right side. He turns and sees… his right arm blown clean off!
"Now's the chance!" Ball Weevil thinks. He prepares more slime but, despite the rest of the original arm sitting on the ground, the robot immediately patches up the hole to it's insides with a steel plate.
"OF! COURSE!" Ben screams in his mind. At least the arm wasn't growing back, that was a start.
All jokes aside though, he was really getting a run for his money. "I'm getting real close to the limit here… Maybe another minute or so?.."
He really needed to come up with something fast. Otherwise the robot was going to crack his soon-to-be-human skull like an—
"Hey! You… umm… bot!" a familiar voice comes from above.
"Pony?"
With a horn on each of her hands, Pony was flying right to the heat of the action!
"What are you doing?!" Ball Weevil screams. What was she doing? What was her plan? What was the logical thought behind any of this?!
The robot takes aim and Pony starts to shake, in an attempt for 'evasive maneuvers'. But Ball Weevil doesn't let it and jumps on his head, blocking his vision. "Oh no you don't! I'm the opponent, remember?!"
With no visual, the robot refocuses on Ball Weevil again before!—
"Catch!" Pony screams and throws one of her horns to the teen from earlier.
The guy catches the horn midair and he runs right towards the fight wielding it like a knife.
"Just what are they doing?.." Ball Weevil thinks before being grabbed by the robot. "Oh no...AHHHHHHHH!"
The robot does a fastball special with the bug and tosses Ball Weevil into the wall, with his crater getting formed behind him. Now with his hand free, the robot gets ready to deliver a mean downward punch.
Seeing it coming, the teen crosses his arms and takes guard to protect his left side. "BRING IT!"
Then suddenly, like it was on the flip of a switch, his skin becomes rock-like and jagged, almost like it hardened...
He plants feet to the ground and blocks the upcoming punch. "Owwwwwww!.."
The teen's head was absolutely ringing, and blood dripped down from his arm but he refused to waver. "Now! Midoriya!"
"Midoriya?" Ball Weevil thinks. "Don't tell me!"
Coming from behind the teen, Midoriya overtakes him from the left and leaps up to the robot's chest with the robot's gauntlet in hand!
"Even if it's a smash, I can't afford to sacrifice my arm! We got one shot!"
A red streak of energy covers his right hand and the robot's processing unit was still not done!
"Control it! Imagine… half opening the dam!"
"SMASH!" he yells out as he goes for a punch.
The gauntlet rips right through the armor and Midoriya turns back and yells.
"NOW TENNYSON!" and leaps off the bot.
"Midoriya, you!—" he says and leaps up.
He channels the biggest spit that he can in one go and throws it inside. "Everybody duck!"
"BOOM!"
In an explosion that barely doesn't knock them off their feet, smoke and dust rises into the air and a crater forms on the mall's floors.
"Did that get him?!" the teen asks and Ball Weevil would facepalm if he could. "You just had to ask, didn't you?"
But once all that clears, they see that the robot was no more…
"Nevermind actually..." as Ball Weevil transforms back to Ben and takes a deep breath.
But his back was still hurting from that throw. "Ow… I'm gonna feel that tomorrow."
He shakes off the dust on him and looks over to his friends. They were also pretty beaten up,which reminded him...
"You guys!" Ben shouts to Midoriya, Pony and the teen. "What were you all thinking?!"
Pointing to his watch. "I told you I got this!"
"Yeah, and look at how well I got it…" he briefly thinks but continues to push through. "I appreciate the help but still!"
Now, what he didn't know was that Pony's nerves were really strained...
Speaking in english out of frustration, she yells: "What were WE thinking? What were YOU thinking, jumping in like that?! Jeez, you can't just do that to us Ben!"
He was surprised by Pony's outburst as well. He really got a reaction out of everyone today huh... "W-Well, I was handling it!"
"Then why didn't you?!"
"I was waiting for my chance!"
From the side, the teen barges into the conversation. "Umm..."
"Oh..." Ben turns and realizes what he was doing.
He can't hold himself back from laughing. Oh, didn't this bring him back to the good old days…
The serious and aggressive attitude disappears from his face. "I'm sorry Pony. Thanks for the help."
She is initially caught off guard but Pony also gets back her cheerful tone. "No problem Ben! But… let's have a plan next time… when we are actual heroes."
"Sure." He then turns to the teen. "And you, thanks a lot for the help umm..."
"Kirishima." Pony introduces. "Right?"
"Yeah." and he holds up his hand. "I'm Kirishima Eijiro.
Ben takes a quick look at him for a second and then shakes his hand. He was a muscular young man with average height, red eyes and black hair with some short bangs. "Nice to meet you, I'm Tennyson Ben."
And by the way I think otherwise!" he says in a fired up manner and makes his hand into a fist. "Fighting the villain head on like that is just manly! And you can't argue against that! You just can't!"
"Thanks for that. But I just did what I thought was right though." Plus… the robot was probably his fault in the first place…
That small thought felt like a stone in his stomach…
What were the chances that it was a fluke? Considering his streak of luck with this device, not likely. He should be more careful from no—
"Wait a minute, Tennyson?" Kirishima repeats, snapping Ben out of his thoughts. He repeats it, almost like the name was familiar to him.
He looks at Ben again and it all seems to fit the bill. "You mean the 100 points Tennyson?!"
Ben had to do a double take on that. He didn't expect his fame to travel around so fast...
"Yeah I saw that on the scoreboard too! You are great, Ben!" Pony joins in.
"Did you use that bug transformation quirk to clear the bots?!"
"Well..." Ben scratches the back of his neck and his left eye slightly spasms. But before he can complete his sentence, he notices Midoriya being helped up by Kamui Woods.
"Midoriya! Are you hurt?" he crouches down.
"Ow… My hand hurts..." Midoriya replies.
Ben's gaze goes to Midoriya's right hand and he carefully removes the gauntlet on him and tosses it aside. Under it, Midoriya's hand mostly seemed fine… other than the jacked up fingers. His hand unfortunately was broken.
"Thankfully there seems to be no signs of internal bleeding..." Kamui reports. "I'll talk with the hospital and see what I can do but what you did was extremely reckless."
He looks at the other three. "That goes for you too! You might be future hero students but don't think for a second that the real world works like those mock exams!"
He continues without giving them a chance to breathe. "You might have been lucky now but there is a reason why we have those laws in place! To protect people from their own impulses, good or bad!"
Ben could understand that. And now… guess he… and his friends had to be reprimanded.
The wooden hero sighs and his conscience presses harder than his loyalty to the rules. "For the sake of your future… I will let this slide."
He crosses his arms. "Since the mall's nearby cameras are destroyed, I will give a speech to the news crew and tell you guys got caught up in all of this."
Midoriya was on the ground and was conscious enough to comprehend the news. It really didn't seem fair when you looked at it from afar, but considering the laws and the property damage… it could almost be seen as generous.
"But under no circumstances will you do this again!"
"Yes sir!" the four of them reply. However, after his answer, Ben's eye twitches ever so slightly…
The day passes on by with Kamui Woods doing exactly as he said and letting the kids off the hook as the press interviews him.
Midoriya had to be taken to the hospital to tend to his broken hand, but from how he was smiling, it seemed like he could hold back. At least more than usual…
"Good job Midoriya… We'll train a lot more later..." Ben tells him before parting ways. "If our moms don't kill us of course..."
After walking for a bit, Ben had to go to the subway. Kirishima was going to the bus stop and Pony seemed like she was going to continue to walk.
Ben turned back at them and said: "Guess, this is goodbye..."
The duo also turn back and Pony speaks first.
"Only for now!" Pony replies. "We'll meet up at school for sure!"
Turning to Kirishima. "Right?" she asks and Kirishima shares her energy.
"Yeah, I can't wait!"
Ben smiles, if his friends were this upbeat, this school could have been the perfect fit for him after all.
"I'm home!" Ben yells from the door and as soon as he enters the living room, he sees her mother watching tv… more specifically the news… breaking news… oh no.
She springs up from her couch, drops her phone and runs to her dear child. "Are you okay? I heard Midoriya went to the hospital? Is it serious?"
"He just broke his hand..." says Ben, trying to act as calm as possible.
"Oh Ben… Please be more careful from now on." She hugs him. "Next time, immediately run to the exits, just get out of there as soon as you can. Please."
Ben hugs her back and can immediately feel some tears on his back. And why wouldn't he? He made his mother worried sick and she didn't even know the whole story. How would knowing that make her feel...?
"Alright… I will." he answers but doubt was already in his mind.
From the couch, the pair could hear some noises, calling out to them. His mother says: "Your dad is on the line, you better talk to him."
"Uh huh..." He walks over and grabs the phone. "Hey dad- Yeah yeah, I'm fine, everyone's fine. We got saved by the local authority."
"Yeah- Okay- Don't worry dad, I'll be more cautious from now on. Emergency exits, I know."
While he reassures his dad, his mom sits next to him and asks: "Are you hungry?"
Ben did open his mouth to speak but no words came out. He already worried her, might as well grab his snack on his own. "I'll get it mom, you just sit back and rest."
"No, I'll-" she says but Ben doesn't seem to pay attention. "Ben..."
"I was at the mall for a celebration- along with Midoriya, you know the greenette I told you about..." Ben continues to talk on the phone, as he starts making a PB&J on the counter. "Nah, he's fine too. We're all-"
"Ben!" his mother accidentally raises her voice and immediately puts her hand over her mouth. She...didn't mean to yell at him like that.
His son freezes in place, and she can faintly hear her husband on the phone telling Ben that he will call back later.
"I'm sorry..." she says as she pushes her hair back. "I'm sorry again I just..."
Ben walks around the counter and sits next to her again. With that, his mother can't stop some tears coming out of her eyes.
"The hero on the news said you had nothing to do with it but I don't know..."
Ben puts his arm around her, but she can't stop herself.
"After what your grandpa said…" she says with her weepy voice. "Those villains… monsters even…"
"What if they know you're here… What if they are out to get revenge on you… or on us..."
Ben continues to listen, patiently. No quip, no happy-go-lucky comment, no heroic phrase.
"Are you…" His mother closed her mouth but then continued.
Looking Ben in the eye with desperation, she asks: "Are you sure this is what you want?"
Ben takes a second. He knew that this was his mother's concern speaking and this would be his last chance to give up the mantle.
He closes his eyes and gets up from his seat.
"It is not about being a hero mom… " Ben says calmly. "It is about taking responsibility..."
Grabbing his plate of food from the counter, he says: "I'll be in my room if you need me." and heads off.
"Okay..." his mother replies with a shaky voice, still trying to reassure herself. "Nothing happened Sandra… He is still safe… He is still with you..."
Ben closes the door behind him and goes directly to video call on his phone. "Please pick up..."
Within a few short seconds, the call goes through and a familiar grandfather appears on screen.
"Hey champ. Your mom sent us a message. Are you okay?" his grandpa Max asks from the other side, with a serious tone.
"Yeah, I'm fine..." Ben says but then pauses. "Yeah, HE was fine alright..."
"You went quiet." Max remarks.
Despite everything, Ben calmly reports: "I got caught in a villain attack today."
"It was giving the local authority a tough time..." he squeezes his fist. "...So I stepped in and took care of it."
It was Max's turn to go quiet but Ben continued on regardless.
"But there was something familiar, grandpa. Before the fight started… this one looked at me. Do you think they are back, my old villains? "
Sitting on the bed, Ben waits for a response but Max was struggling to say the least.
"I don't know sport, but I'll look into it."
Ben gets up. "I'll come and help you!"
"No, Ben. If they are really after you again, we can't let them find out that we know. You must act casual and go to school. In the meantime, I'll do some investigation on my own..."
From Max's line, another voice joins in. "From that, he means WE'LL look into it. Right, grandpa?"
"Gwen?" Ben asks, it should have been 2 am over there. "What are you doing at the Rustbucket that late?"
"It's the weekend, remember?"
"Oh yeah." Ben says. "His Grandpa Max's camping trips… Time just flew by when you were on one of those..."
"But, don't you have school?" he asks Gwen.
For which she replies: "I still have a bit of time after school, it's not like anything happens at the boring old town Bellwood."
He can hear Max laughing on the other end. "I guess you're right, pumpkin." However he was still worried.
"Are you sure you guys won't need my help with this?"
"We'll be fine Ben. I promise." Max says.
And Gwen follows up: "Yeah, we haven't lost our edge. We'll find who's responsible."
With a concerned face he says: "If you guys say so… Good luck." and hangs up.
He twiddles his thumbs. "I'll go with grandpa's advice and have fun while I'm here… but I also need to keep my head up."
Meanwhile...
Back on the battlefield, an armored lady was observing the police investigation from above. "Look at how cute they are, working like bees to find any kind of pollen."
She looks at the recording of the battle and sighs with disappointment. "We were on the verge of greatness, Vulkanus! We were this close!"
With her disappointment turning to frustration, she starts circling on the rooftop. "That robot cost me a lot too… I really need to start making some big bucks now..."
Her scanner then beeps with a flickering green light. "Yes! YES! At least something comes out of this!"
She excitedly jumps from the building, right towards the scene of the crime and landing on the ground with no sound generated.
"Shock absorbent..." she smirks and starts sneaking around. "I take this and that money won't be wasted, easy..."
"Aaaand bingo…" Thankfully it didn't take long for her to find her prize. "Now to get past the party poopers..."
She reaches over to a button on her gauntlet but the arm cannon catches her attention first. "I COULD do this the easy way… but what the hell."
Rojo leaps up to the second floor and with a swift yet accurate shot, blasts a car in the parking lot, causing it to explode instantly.
"Woah!"
"What was that!"
"Search the area!"
"Yeah yeah, 'SeArcH tHe ArEa' headass..." She approaches the target. "Before you know it, I'll be gone..."
True to form and getting what she wants, Rojo immediately goes back on her rooftop and lays down. Crossing her arms right behind her head, "Now… for some new business." and clicks her earpiece.
"Report." says the same stern, cold, alien voice.
"Tennyson battled again today. Won but he also flashed me a new alien."
Like it was already a routine. "Start uploading your visuals."
"Oh, I think I can do better than that." and takes out a vial. "You can't see it now but I have a sample of material used by Tennyson's transformation. Getting something from the field would be a lot more useful than any old test, right?"
The line goes silent for a bit. "Good, they are considering it."
"Terms?" the alien asks.
"Yup..." Rojo thinks. "30% of my money up front and the 70% after we're seems fair to me."
"Go ahead and decrease the percentage..."
"Aaaand." she adds as the opposite side falls into silence again. "Before you decide to electrocute me, I would like to say that this thing is highly volatile. So if you don't want this precious thing to go up in flames like that, you better-"
"We have already gotten the very same sample, human." The alien interrupts without a care in the world.
"What?!" She looks down from the roof and, "But the only ones here are the po-"
"Like we said." The alien increases the pressure. "Our mission is surveillance, not action. And fortunately, we specialize in stealth..."
He then opens up the footage of the car blowing up and the police scattering to find her. "You? Not so much..."
"So, for the time being, you are advised to stay low and not cause further trouble."
Rojo tosses the vial aside. She was upset but her curiosity was overwhelming. "Then... what could you need me for?"
"According to our intel, you are well advised to wait…until Tennyson begins his school."