Souls Hero Academia (Rewrite)

Izuku blinked, the roaring crowd now an afterthought as the entire stadium went silent. He looked up to Midnight, the heroine making a come-hither gesture while her off hand held a microphone.

He didn't expect to be giving a speech to an entire crowd, but life was entirely random in its nature. But to be honest, this wasn't bothering him one bit. They wanted him to give a speech, give a speech he will.

His feet guided him forward, the throngs of students all in perfect rows and columns looked at him with curious gazes. He ignored them, in favor of focusing on Midnight and the mic in her hands.

Okay, maybe he was a bit nervous. This was, after all, a new experience. There were very few chances to do so in Lordran, after all. The best crowd he could get there were the groaning of the hollows and literally rabid dogs. They'd even try to kill him even before he could get his first words out.

Step by step, he inched himself forwards towards the elevated stage. Evidently, it didn't take too long to arrive, what with it being just a few steps away. Accepting the mic from Midnight, the heroine gave Izuku a wink and brought her lips close to his ear.

"Just say what's on your mind." Her sultry voice echoed through his ear. Giving Izuku a pat on the shoulder, she moved just a few meters away, eyes locked on his figure like a heat-seeking missile. Izuku gazed upon the open crowd, the entire stadium silent save for a few whispers here and there. Bringing the microphone close to his lips, Izuku drew in a breath, just enough to fill his lungs, and spoke.

"... Git Gud." He then tossed the mic back to Midnight, who caught it with an absent gaze as Izuku walked back to his line. As he did so, he saw the other students looking at him like he grew a second head. By Gwyn, some of them even looked mildly offended.

The crowd buzzed with mixed reactions, some cheered while others murmured in confusion. Izuku couldn't help but purse his lips at the bewildered expressions around him.

To be honest, Izuku locked up for a few seconds, brain quickly parsing through anything and everything he could've said into the mic. He knew that he was vastly different from the rest of the student population, maybe even in the entire Japanese population, but that didn't mean he was an inconsiderate piece of human refuse. His mother would've chewed him out like tofu if she heard anything that could create discord, and he wasn't one for long speeches.

Git Gud was just a phrase that wasn't too deep. You either get better and stay ahead or fail and get left behind. That's it. No other nuance to it. Plus, it wasn't just directed at his fellow students and participants. This also targeted the rest of those watching. After all, the better a person was, the more opportunities he could get. Never give up, as the saying goes.

Plus, it was just two words. The less time he spent on the stage speaking, the better.

"Dude, the heck was that?" The moment he arrived back at his class' line Kaminari was the first to lay out his aggravations. "Why're you making yourself look like a dick?"

"Language, Kaminari, but yes, he is right, Midoriya." Iida frowned, the eyes behind his glasses narrowing. "As our class representative, you must strive to be the face of 1-A, yet you made ourselves look like utter buffoons."

"Eh, I won't really say us, more like he made himself sound like a jerk." Mina grumbled but otherwise smiled, her yellow eyes piercing through the crowd as she stared at the white-haired teen.

"Hey, I didn't want to be class rep in the first place." Izuku pouted. "Also, what's wrong? Isn't Git Gud just like Plus Ultra?"

"Well, he isn't wrong, kero." Tsu was quick to defend him, the frog teen quick to come to Izuku's aid. Probably from the time in the battle trials where he complimented her, Izuku suspected.

"... Looking between the lines, yeah, Asui's right." Kirishima was the next to defend Izuku, being the red-haired bro that he was. "Why are we talking about what he said anyway? Shouldn't we be focusing on the first event?"

"Finally! Something I agree with." Katsuki's growl caused the redhead to give him a thumbs up, to which the ash-blond ignored him. Looking around, Izuku spotted the murmurings of the students slowly dying down as the speakers went alive.

"WELL, THAT WAS SOMETHING, AIN'T IT AIZAWA?" Present Mic's voice boomed through the stadium. "SERIOUSLY, WHAT ARE YOU TEACHING YOUR STUDENTS?"

"That's just Midoriya being Midoriya." For once, Aizawa's tone sounded impressed, if a bit gleeful.

"I… AH, WHAT THE HECK. ANYWAY! LET'S GET BACK TO THE MAIN SHOW, SHALL WE!?" The stadium exploded into cheering and the festive mood was back. "AW YEAH! MIDNIGHT, THE STAGE IS YOURS!"

"Alright!" Midnight flicked the whip to the ground, the impact reverberating around the arena as the stadium went quiet for a dull second. She basked in the silence, a sultry smirk on her lips as she posed for the flashing cameras. "Aw, I just love a captivated audience." Izuku was pretty sure some of the students around him – mostly male, and a surprising number of females – gulped at the sudden sex appeal thrust in front of them.

Izuku observed the reactions, head tilted to the side with a small frown. Wasn't this illegal? Izuku wasn't too knowledgeable about the law, but from his dives into the internet and browsing through hero forums, wasn't Midnight a bit too R18 for to be the center of attention? By Gwyn, all of the participating students were minors, and the less said about the children in the audience seats, the better.

But to be fair… Why does any of it matter? Why spare the innocence of those training to fight on the frontlines? Those in the stands were excused and if they chose so, they could probably press charges. But for his classmates? Those in the hero course, and extended to that, probably those in the support course and even the business course since they are heavily implied to be dealing with heroic affairs in the far future, why should it matter?

Any day could be their last. Sure, this applied to anybody currently living, but those literally preparing for a lifetime of danger were a special case. Why should they be compared to the rest of those living in their shadows, protected by their blood, sweat and tears?

They were children, sure, but the moment a person willfully decided this to be their future, no matter the result, they must be treated as an adult. No exceptions. It was just frustrating to read on the forums – the controversial ones – about horror stories where villains that were minors wreaked havoc and caused the deaths of other people.

Toga would've been counted as one had she not gotten proper help, her quirk insanity slowly eroding her thoughts until nothing was left but a former shell of herself was left… Then again, she was still degrading, but as long as he was nearby, she was degrading in a better direction.

Another thing to make note of was the reason why they descended into villainy. Toga had her quirk insanity problem and neglect, and most of the child villains were probably in the same vein as her, but with different circumstances. However, one could not rule out human nature, plain and simple. Psychopathy and sociopathy were a thing, after all, and quirks mixing with that was a dangerous combination.

But the reason was moot if damage was already done. Can't take back the life snuffed out because of a flick of a wrist or a glob of acid.

Izuku shook his head. He was going a bit deep into his thoughts again, a habit he wanted kicked out when he returned to Japan. It was just ingrained into him, at this point. Various thought cycles looping over and over in his mind, trying to find out the reason why a pillar in Anor Londo looked different than the pillar right next to it was the norm for him.

Ultimately useless – the pillar, that is – but when it isn't, the truth was a bitter pill to swallow. Lordran was a tragedy, through and through. He just wasn't able to piece everything together by the time he had burned in the kiln.

Damn that Gwynevere. If he ever saw her again, she would meet the sharp end of his blade. He felled Gwyn – a husk of himself, really, but he was still Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight – his daughter would fare no better.

A tap on the shoulder caused Izuku to tense and immediately stopped his instincts from blaring out a response, that is, a quick punch to the face. Twisting his head, he saw Tsu with finger under her chin, eyes filled with worry as her head tilted to the side.

"You okay, kero? You zoned out a bit and the first event is about to start." Izuku blinked, and he looked up to the giant screen that showed what the first event was.

Hazard Maze

"Oh, so that was chosen." Izuku smirked, previous thoughts on his introspection now buried deep within his mind. Tsu was a bit confused, but her worries vanished when she saw him grinning like a loon. That didn't mean that he couldn't feel her apprehension, after all, the last time he looked like this was during the battle trials. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun!"

"Oh dear." A few ways away from them, Izuku could hear Yaoyorozu pinching her temples. The same could be said for the class and vice rep of class 1-B.

"Why'd that get to be chosen?" Kendo groaned, a hand on her shoulder as Shoda sighed with what looked to be resignation.

"Oi, is there something you aren't telling us?" Kirishima's lookalike swerved his way to the front, silver hair gleaming underneath the sunlight.

"Sorry, Tetsutetsu, but the third-year class rep made us promise not to tell." Izuku could tell this wasn't going over well for their class rep… Well, not really for her, but for the blond fop that looked like he was fuming. Izuku looked back over to his class and all of their eyes were glued to him and Yaoyorozu.

"You knew?" Mineta looked like he was suffering from PTSD. "You knew about the Sports Festival and you didn't tell us?"

"Hey, tell that to the third years." I poke my thumb to the stands where most of the third-year students were spectating from. He could still see the overly excited periwinkle-haired teen bouncing up and down like a kid on a sugar rush. "Yaoyorozu and I didn't have a say in the matter."

"... Well, shit." Mineta sighed as he backtracked his previous statement. "Sorry for going off on you."

"Huh, diapers actually apologized…" Katsuki muttered underneath his breath, but his voice wasn't made for whispering, which in turn let the surroundings students hear. That included Mineta, face scrunching up like he sucked on a sour lemon.

"Oi! It's a fucking bowl!" Mineta stomped forwards towards the snickering blond but was blocked by the chopping motions of their bespectacled classmate.

"Language, Mineta! You are setting a bad example for our class!" As the chaos unfolded, with students nervous about upcoming the event and his class literally releasing stress by venting on the others, Izuku hummed as he looked at Midnight, who was continuing explaining the rules while knowing that some of his classmates weren't listening because of an ongoing argument.

It was hilarious. Midnight was as much a troll as he was, and he could respect that. Izuku didn't need to hear the rules, he already knew all of it by heart. After all, he was the one who suggested this in the first place.

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~ Weeks earlier ~

"So, any suggestions on what our first event should be? Gotta admit, an obstacle race for each year level sounds boring." Nejire floated in the air, feet swishing about lazily.

"Battle Royale?" Kendo was the first to suggest, which was then written on the white board just close by.

"Okay, that sounds good. Anything else?" Izuku had to give credit where credit was due, if there was something that needed to be done, Nejire knew when to focus and push her curiosity to the wayside.

"Oh, how about tag?" Togata was the next to suggest an event, and frankly, Izuku could see the charm in it. "As for the rules, everyone is it and being held for three seconds is an instant out. Rinse and repeat until forty are left."

"Hmmm… okay, not a bad idea, but there might be better events." Nejire hummed for a bit, but after a while, she just marked it down on the white board. "Well, let's just write it down anyway. Could be fun. Anything else?"

"Oh, I know something." Izuku raised his hand and the ravenette beside him looked a little bit worried. "How about a maze, with hazards. A Hazard Maze!" Izuku slammed on the desk with a gleeful smile on his face. "Pitfalls, jumpscares, traps, and best of all, poisons swamps!"

The whole room lay silent for a while, all of the occupants looking at Izuku with mounting horror, save for one. Nejire, bless her heart, took to it like a kid to ice cream. In fact, she immediately wrote it down on the white board in enlarged letters and encircled it just for good measure.

"Ohoho! Great idea junior!" Nejire flashed Izuku a thumbs up. "I'll just have to pitch this to Principal Nezu, and he'd give the go ahead, easy peazy."

"Now, now, Nejire. Isn't it a bit too… hardcore for the first years?" Togata, the voice of reason for the hyperactive teen, waved his arms around while his cartoonish face conveyed his worries.

"... That is true." Nejire hummed, but Izuku was sure that she still wanted the Hazard Maze to be the de facto winner. "How about we make it random, have a machine select from a list of our submitted events?"

"... Well, that is better than nothing." Fuwa sighed, palms covering her face.

"Then it's settled. Random it is!" Nejire bounced back to being hyperactive as more and more ideas were pitched for the first event.

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"I have a theory that the first event was rigged from the beginning." Yaoyorozu sighed while Izuku bounced in place. "Damn you Midoriya for making that suggestion."

"What? This is going to be fun!" Izuku grinned. From the throngs of the general classes, he could also see Himi smirking like a bloodthirsty shark. His focus was thrown elsewhere when the speakers went to life again, Midnight strutting along the stage like a supermodel.

"Alright then, now for those of you who were arguing while I was discussing the rules" Midnight's eyes narrowed at Izuku's class, the purple midget clamming up when the older heroine's gaze stared daggers into him. "Reach the end of the maze, don't worry, you won't miss it, and you move onto the next event. When forty have reached the finish line, the event will end and those that failed, well, better luck next year. Also, use whatever strategy you want, but if I see so much as one of you hurting another student, well, let's just say that actions have consequences." She licked her lips and nearly made all of the students shiver in either fear or arousal.

Seriously, how was this okay? Izuku just couldn't wrap his head around it.

"Now then, if all of you could please stand in any of the areas provided, we can finally start our first event." Midnight's next words caused the stadium to erupt. As it did so, the ground rumbled as Cementoss created elevated platforms for the participants to hop on. Izuku looked at his classmates, their eyes gazing back into his. He then looked at the platform nearby and shrugged his shoulders.

Channeling energy into his legs, with a single hop, he flew into the air and landed directly on the center of the raised platform. He was followed by some of his classmates, but notably, some of them separated and went to other platforms when students from other classes joined them since there wasn't infinite space.

"Oh, Midoriya." Izuku looked at the source of the voice, seeing Shoda along with Kendo walking up to him. "I thought I saw you jumping up here."

"Oh, hello Shoda, Kendo." Izuku waved at them, and the two representatives of their class stopped just right in front of him. "So, excited?"

"Hell no." Shoda grumbled, eyes unamused. "I heard all the nitty-gritty details of this event from your mouth. I know what to expect, and I am so not looking forward to the traps." Shoda shivered, as did Kendo, the ginger hugging herself with a slight grimace.

"Yeah, seriously. What the hell, Midoriya?" Kendo narrowed her eyes at him, a scowl on her face.

"I just thought it would be fun." Izuku tilted his head.

"For you, maybe." Yaoyorozu snuck up behind the three, Izuku already knowing that she was coming because of his flaring senses.

"Eh." Izuku shrugged and the quartet descended into silence. Observing his surroundings again, he managed to spot some of his classmates on the same platform. There was Kirishima, Uraraka, Asui, and strangely enough, Mineta. Izuku thought the diminutive teen hated him… Oh wait, Mineta was giving him a glare. Yep, the purple midget hated him, alright.

Once all of the students were situated on the elevated platforms, the entire stadium shook. Some of the students lost their balance, while most stood tall. It took a minute before the shaking stopped, Izuku's eyes closed and senses a bit disoriented but otherwise completely fine.

Opening his eyes, they widened when all around him were tall walls and bright lights. Looking up made Izuku grin as he saw a pitch black roof that covered them from the sky. His heart beat faster while his grin grew even more manic when he looked forward.

A literal swamp that oozed a horrible smell loomed ahead of them. Well, it was no poison swamp, but it would have to do.

"ALRIGHT! THE FIRST EVENT, HAZARD MAZE! GIVE IT UP FOR OUR CONTENDERS, AND WISH THEM LUCK MY DEAR AUDIENCE! PARTICIPANTS! BEGIN!"

Izuku didn't need to be told twice. He just bolted forward, leaving his classmates and schoolmates to eat his dust.

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A/N: So, it looks like MHA x Fallout won. Time to fire up Jingle Jangle Jingle, cuz the Courier (alignment still pending) is comin' to alternate Japan.

Also... Bear, Bull, Bear, Bull, Bear, Bull, Bear, Bull

Shameless Plugs:

patreon.com/IAmGuavaFruitFictionHub (If you want to read 10 (currently 8) chaps ahead, head on over.)

discord.gg/v9f5kjsfVv (Deadlock got me addicted...)