Maximum Tournament
Izuku and his team sat with Fox, All Might and Nezu inside Nezu's office as the sports festival raged out in the arena.
"The crowd really forgot about Shigaraki the second we started fighting huh." Izuku comments as he wipes the blood from his face.
"That's typical of the civilians," Fumi says as he places a pack of ice on his head.
"Even then. A major villain interrupted a major event, spoke to some of the participants, and disappeared and they had no reaction to it. But the second Izuku asked Fox if we could continue, they went crazy and started cheering once again. Goes to show that the civilians don't really care about the threat unless it directly would have affected them." Ochako tells them as she lies down on the floor of the office.
"True. If Tenko had done some damage today, there'd be social media all over Japan blaming UA for their lack of security when the only places in the world that are safe from teleportation quirks are SWORD's HQ and the Parliments of every nation that were built by SWORD's technicians for the countries." Izuku answers.
"Hey, Mr. Nezu would it be alright if I just plugged myself into the outlet here?" Denki asks the principal, holding a charger in his hand while one end of the charger was between his teeth.
Fox sighs, looking at the 4 kids lazing around them. "Ignore them, they'll chime in when they have to." Fox apologises. "And no Denki, use the battery I gave you for now. I'll get you more later on." Fox tells him. "Now, Abigail is busy today so I'll fill you in on what Tenko asked us."
"You won't have to do that." Nezu says. "I already know of the Maximum Tournament. Once you told us about SWORD, I had Yagi write everything he could remember from his days at SWORD and then I did some research of my own."
"If that's the case then I'll get straight to the point. During the Maximum Tournament, we'll be facing certain threats that over the years have only become stronger since the last time the tournament happened." Fox says. "Izuku, if you will."
"Huh?" Izuku asks him, as he tightens some of the screws on his arm.
"The presentation. Start it." Fox repeats himself.
"What presentation?" Ochako asks him, sitting up on the floor.
"The one on the Kai-Oh's. The one we use for training the Captains." Fox tells them.
"Oh right." Izuku sighs as he gets up and attaches his arm with Ochako getting up and helping him tighten it. "That's it, Ochako. Thanks for helping." Izuku tells her as he walks to the table. "In the Maximum tournament, we have all the Kai-Oh groups who will be participating. Of the 15 something Kai-Oh's we only have ever worried about are these 10 groups."
"Each group specializes in a specific and highly refined form of Martial Arts. Dragon Fist, Vacuum Fist, Fluid Body, Iai Hand Sword... You get the point." Izuku answers. "While most of these groups aren't much of a problem, the issue lies in the individuals that lead these groups."
"You might have heard of some of these people. Muscular, a rather notorious villain that killed the Water Hose duo. He is the leader of the faction of Kai Oh's that practices the rather brutal Demon Fist." Izuku explains. "We've faced off against him once. All 5 of us. It was our first mission as a group and let's just say that it didn't end well. That mission is the only mission that Omega Squadron was a part of that wasn't completely successful with all members coming back alive."
"Then you have the Judicator, the ruthless serial killer and a practitioner of Iai Hand Sword. He knows multiple other martial art forms but he is the most dangerous with the blade or just his hand. If you want a reference, Fumi's Swordless Style moves are based on the Iai Hand Sword techniques but refined so that he doesn't immediately kill his opponents. That's how ruthless Iai Hand Sword techniques are." Izuku explains.
"Next we have Yashin, a blind man that practices the Vacuum fist." Izuku continues. "The ideology of the Vacuum fist is that Oxygen is the most dangerous poison that is present in our body. They've developed techniques to kill people by cutting their oxygen supply in multiple different ways."
"Godhand, a man that uses Dragon Fist, he is very good in close quarters combat and has only been beaten thrice since attaining the rank of master at the Dragon Fist School and becoming it's leader. Golden Sorrow, a weird combination of a sadist and a masochist who loves to torture his opponents as much as he loves getting hurt. He is a practitioner of Fluid Body, which is rather fitting to his theme." Izuku explains, placing photos of each person on the table.
"Next, we have the tiger claw practitioner, The Blue Tiger." Izuku continues. "His nails and finger tips have been honed to the extent that they can cut through flesh with ease. He is known to never leave survivors. Those that escape his grasp once are quite literally hunted down and sliced up into tiny sections."
"We also have Bushin and the Brothers Scarlet, practitioners of Spider-Fu. Bushin is the leader of the group whils Brothers Scarlet are his right and left hand men. Twins that always fight together. Next is Acolyte of The Night, yes that is his name, he is a practitioner of one of the more normal forms in the Kai-Oh groups called Shishinkai Karate." Izuku explains.
"And finally in the Kai-Oh's we have Purifier of the Poison Hands and Swift Paw of the Mantis Palm. Purifier belives that humans are diseases and that only the worthy deserve to live. The School of Poison Hands has around 10 or 15 students, not more because most applicants tend to die during the examinations. That is how harsh and strict their beliefs are. Mantis Palm focuses on speed. If you thought we were fast, then they will seem like blurs. Swift Paw is the fastest. She has been trained as a child in this art and over the years has become fast enough to hit 15 time in under a second. It might not seem like much but this she can do without her quirk."
"What about their individual quirks?" Nezu asks him.
"No data available on that." Izuku responds as he sits back down.
"Do you want me to continue?" Ochako asks him.
"Could you? I'm a bit exhausted after everything." Izuku tells her.
Ochako sighs as she gets up and walks to the desk, taking the folder of photos from Izuku and places four photos on top of the previous ones. "On top of these individuals, we have those that lie at the top of the food chain of the Kai-Ohs, The Great Kai-Ohs as they are called. They are those that have mastered multiple forms from the different groups. In this group we have The Jade Emperor, the Witch, The Monkey King and The Little Giant."
"The Jade Emperor, an alias for Han. His abilities allow him to control the fundamental forces of Nature. Gravity, attraction, repulsion, you get the point. Witch, often called the Witch of the West, is an alias for Mira, Han's wife. She is a swordswoman and currently holds the title of the world's strongest in Swordsmanship. Her ability is something that we at SWORD have dubbed Greed. Any attack that isn't physical will be absorbed by her. So the only way to even fight her is to get up close and personal. Monkey King is the alias for Mori. This man is a little idiotic at times but his air-headedness hides unlimited power. Or so it seems. Mori has a strength enhancer of some sort. What it is is unknown but there are multiple aspects to the power. He is also a battle prodigy like Izuku and can copy almost any move he sees once. Which annoys Izuku because Mori has copied all of Izuku's moveset making them rather evenly matched. At least when the fought last year. And Little Giant is Liebe. The dude is short and his quirk, Devil gives him various transformations that increase his speed, strength and give him the ability to fly as well. But he's got time limits as far as we've seen."
"You seem to know these 4." Yagi comments.
"We do. They're all... you could say friends. It's a bit complicated." Ochako answers. "Mori, Han and Mira are our friends, but Hinata... he's a little iffy with our friendship. He's more of a quid pro quo type of guy."
"You forgot to add 4 more people to that list." Mirio says walking through the door. Literally.
"I really should get a barrier that prevents permeation from activating or better you get a bell for you Young Togata." Nezu sighs.
"Sorry sir, but I just got to know of Tenko's proposal and I wanted to help as much as I could." Mirio says. "And as I was saying, there are 4 more in the category of Grand Kai-Oh's. The Demon, the Demon's Bride, The Electrocutioner and the Shadow."
"And who might these four be?" Nezu asks.
"You're looking at them sir." Mirio says as he points to Izuku and his team. "Tokoyami Fumikage aka the Shadow, Kaminari Denki aka The Electrocutioner, Uraraka Ochako aka the Demon's Bride and Izuku here is the Demon."
"How do you know those names!!" Ochako questions, throwing a pen at the boy only for Mirio to let the pen phase through his head and get stuck in the wall behind him.
"Mirio." Izuku says.
"That was all sir, I'll be taking your leave!" Mirio says as he drops through the floor and vanishes.
"I'll talk to him later about polite entry and exit." Izuku says. "But to clarify a little on what Mirio said, we are actually amongst the many in the running for the title of the Grand Kai-Ohs."
"Interesting. But I'm guessing there is more to this?" Nezu asks them.
"Yes sir. Above the Grand Kai-Ohs we have the Supreme Kai-Oh. This year's competition is being held to appoint the Supreme Kai-Oh and this title will be given to the winner of the Maximum Tournament." Denki chimes in. "The Supreme Kai-Oh dictates who controls what area and what each Kai-Oh does. They are able to control the Kai-Ohs."
"And when Tenko said that he wanted to win so he could ensure he was able to rule the world without any opposition, he meant it." Fumi said. "If we win, we'd be able to remove an entire faction from the war. This would change things though."
"It would definitely change things Fumi." Izuku sighs. "And since we have a truce with Tenko and the League, a lot of the other predictions go wrong."
"And that's why I hate future seers." Fox sighs.
"How many of these Kai-Oh's as you call them can be swayed to our side?" Nezu asks them.
"None of the Kai-Ohs will support us, but we might have help from some of the Grand Kai-Ohs. That is assuming someone here asks them nicely." Fox stays turning to Izuku.
"Fuck you, I'm not talking to them." Izuku tells Fox. "Jin is annoying!"
"Izuku there is more at stake here than the fact that you hate Jin." Fox tells him.
"I don't care. We can win this even without their help." Izuku answers.
Fox turns to the other three, looking for some help. Ochako sighs as she walks to Izuku. "Izuku if you don't agree to talk to Jin and Han then," Ochako whispers something to him.
"You do that and you'll spend the next year on the couch." Izuku threatens her.
"Okay, never mind then." Ochako says backing down.
"I'm not even trying." Denki says.
"I could try talking to Mira." Fumi offers.
"No one's talking to anyone." Izuku says.
"Contact her Fumi, and organise a meeting. Use the safehouse in Madagascar. And see if you can get the other 3 to come in as well." Fox orders. "And the four of you will be meeting them there. And that's an order."
Izuku sighs. "Alright." He grumbles.
"I'll go call Mira." Fumi says. "I can use the conference room right Mr. Nezu?"
"Sure, Yagi could you guide him to the conference room?" Nezu asks him.
"Yes sir." Yagi says as he gets up and leaves the room with Fumi following him.
"So, is there anyone else we need to keep an eye on during this tournament?" Nezu asks them.
"After the whole Kai-Oh system, we have two more individuals that can be potentially dangerous to us." Izuku says.
"Dangerous as in?" Nezu asks him.
"Both of them are basically All Might without the power of One For All." Izuku explains. "And I don't mean in terms of just looks, I mean everything All Might can do with One For All, he can do without as much as a quirk. Well, almost everything. They've stopped earthquakes with their hands, dodged lightning, broken the sound barrier with a punch, and killed the last Elephas gigantus with nothing but their bare hands in an hour. I don't need to tell you what the Giant Elephant can do right?"
"I know full well what the Giant Elephant can do. It was a species that was created alongside me after all." Nezu sighs. "So who are these people?"
"Ogre and his son, Baki or The Demon Spawn." Izuku answers.
"Ogre was able to beat Izuku to a pulp twice. And this was after we got our powers." Ochako adds.
"And they both have Izuku's Demon back." Denki adds. "And no offence Izuku, it is a thing of beauty because it was his family that originally showed this trait but when Izuku developed it during training, we chalked it up to training and not just genetics."
"Anyways." Izuku says, ignoring the comment. "I'm not yet sure if Ogre will even be there but we'll have to ensure that we're able to beat him as well."
"And to do that, these 4 will need to be under observation at the SWORD HQ so they can train." Fox says. "I hope you understand what that means."
"Of course I do, they can leave. It's not like we can teach them anything anyway." Nezu says. "What about the Quirk Cancelling bullets that he talked about?"
"We are willing to lend you our resources to investigate that lead. Mirio will be leading a squad of 15 SWORD agents that will do anything he asks them to without a question." Fox answers. "You will also have access to our tech and our satellites. We'll also be sending some agents to help you operate them as well. If you need anything else, you can contact Abigail she'll lead you to the right person for this."
"I'll talk to the Hero Association but I believe that Sir Nighteye is already looking into this case. We can use his help on this." Nezu says.
"Can't we help them on this?" Ochako asks Fox.
"And risk being less prepared for the tournament? I'd rather not." Fox says.
"It'll be good practice. We've lost touch with our Ultimates and being at UA we've had to hold back because of the others." Denki says. "The mission might just be what we need."
"Fox, I propose a wager." Izuku says with a smile as he crosses his hands.
"I'm listening." Fox says.
"One week, whatever information you're able to gather, give it to us. If we're able to take care of the situation, well and good, otherwise, we never bring this up again." Izuku says.
"Deal. I'll give you 5 intelligence agents of your choice. Take them, find whatever you want and however you want. You have until next week." Fox says as All Might returns with Fumi.
"Mira will be meeting us in 12 hours at the safe house with the other three." Fumi tells everyone.
"FUCK!" Izuku curses. "We're leaving. We need to prepare. Oh, and Fox, I'll take Seth, Sabrina, Yumi, Jake and Rok. Tell them to dig up all they can on Quirk Cancelling bullets and have Mr. Nezu and Yagi forward Sir Nighteye's work to them. I'll contact them from the flight."
"I'll let the base know. You have a week remember that." Fox says as Izuku and his team leave the room.
10 hours later, Izuku and his team were soaring above the open waters of the Pacific Ocean, heading towards the Bora Bora Islands.
"We'll be reaching the Airport in another 15 minutes." The pilot tells them. "From there, you'll be given some clothes that our agents bought so you can fit in and will be taken to the safe house. Your guests will be brought to you there directly."
"Your passports and Identity Cards." Another agent says, handing the group 4 passports and a few other documents.
"Prof. Nakamura Yami." Izuku reads out the name on his passport.
"Dr. Hikari Yami." Ochako sighs. "Y'all really love to pull our legs at times don't you." She sighs.
"Dr. Tatsume Sasori." Denki says. "I like the name. I'm a doctor."
"A Doctor of Philosophy Denki. Not an actual doctor." Fumi sighs. "I'm Dr. Yuuno Yashima."
"The cover story for you all is that you're all here on a research expedition for two days." The agent informs them.
"It won't be needed outside of the airport." Izuku sighs. "And Denki, Fumi, you know the place, right? Go run a perimeter. As much as I hate Mori and that short idiot, we need to make sure that no one is around us when we're discussing this."
"Consider it done." Denki says with a smile as he walks to the end of the plane, opens the door and leaps off.
Another few hours later.
The group sat at the safe house sipping on some grape juice [and definitely not wine] when there is a knock on the door.
"Pizza delivery." A voice says.
"It's Mori." Ochako sighs.
"I'll handle it. Just be ready in case they decide to fight." Izuku tells them as everyone stands up, ready for anything.
"Let me open the door Izuku." Fumi says. "We need them to listen to us and not fight us before the competition."
"I agree with Fumi." Ochako tells Izuku. "Just for this once, let him take the lead."
Izuku sighs and nods as Fumi opens the door and is greeted by Mori, Mira, Han and Liebe.
"Hey, thanks for coming at this short notice." Fumi says with a smile.
"It wasn't that big of a deal, Fumi." Mira says with a smile as she hugs the boy. "You know, I'm kinda angry at you guys for not coming to our wedding. It was a real bummer."
"Sorry, but we were busy with some work, you know how it is." Fumi apologises. "Congratulations though." He tells Han and Mira.
"It's good you didn't come." Han says with a smile. "This idiot here ruined the cake by accidentally kicking some drunk dude into it."
"In my defence, he was harassing some girls and had what was coming to him." Mori says. "And I did try to make it up to you guys by buying you that cake later!!!"
"You bought us a Cupcake that was 2 days old Mori!!!" Mira yells. Izuku and Liebe roll their eyes at the trio's antics.
"Denki!!!!!" Mori exclaims as he goes to hug the blond.
"MORI!!!!" Denki shouts back as the two release electricity at each other while hugging.
"Nice to see that you haven't lost touch with the electricity!!" Mori says with a smile.
"That is literally what I do Mori. Can't expect me to not be able to do that." Denki responds.
Mira walks up to Ochako and hugs her as well. "Did you ask him out yet?" She asks him.
"It's more complicated than that Mira." Ochako responds.
"She has done everything except that." Izuku answers, shooting a smirk towards Ochako.
"Need I remind you what your answer was a few years ago?" Ochako snaps at him.
"Yes, and there was a reason for that answer back then. Try asking now, maybe my answer will surprise you." Izuku provokes her.
"AHHHHH annoying ass fucker. Don't play with my fucking feelings!!" Ochako shouts, annoyed at Izuku, going to punch the boy but he ducks to the side causing Ochako to grumble in annoyance. "Why are we discussing my feeling here!!"
"I'm not playing. But you're right, we can discuss this later on, in private. I'll get straight to the point here." Izuku says turning to their guests. "As you might have heard, Tenko our group's fifth member defected a few years ago and was considered missing. That was till he showed his face a week ago. He is currently working with All for One."
"That's old information. The underworld has known of this for quite some time now." Liebe informs them. "You didn't call us here to tell us this did you?"
"No. The reason we call you here was to talk about something else that Tenko did. Earlier today, he interrupted a showcase at the UA sports festival."
"A university sports festival? Why would he do that?" Han asks them.
"Because we were the ones in the showcase." Ochako informs them. "And his interruption gave the world not one but two messages. First, that he was not scared of the Top 10 or any of the heroes for that matter, and second, that he plans to take over the world for himself."
"And how does he plan to do that?" Mira asks them.
"The Maximum Tournament." Denki says.
"Oh no." Mori exclaims, his eyes widening in shock. "Don't tell me he's planning to use the title of Supreme Kai-Oh to get the Kai-Ohs to help him."
"Bullseye." Fumi says. "And that is why we've asked you to help us. Tenko might have asked us to help him with the tournament's initial rounds, but once we reach the final 16 brackets, we're on our own meaning the 8 of us will have to work together to take him out."
"That is assuming that at least some of us are able to fight him one after the other." Han points out.
"And that we don't come up against each other." Liebe adds.
"If we face each other, we put up a show for the people." Izuku says. "Our ultimate goal is to prevent Tenko and the Ogre from winning. As long as that happens, we don't care which one of us wins."
"So, you guys in?" Denki asks them.
"I'm game." Han answers.
"I'm in too." Mira says, looking at them with a smile.
"...." Liebe says quiet.
"Liebe?" Denki questions.
"You'll know my answer on the day we start the bracket." Liebe tells them.
"Fair enough. Mori?"
"I will agree on one condition." Mori says as he turns to Izuku with a smile.
"Not happening Jin." Izuku tells him. "We ain't fighting outside of the tournament. You remember what happened the last time."
"So, what if we levelled a city block? It was fun!!! And I want to see if my new training schedule has paid off. These two won't let me fight them." Mori whines, pointing at Mira and Han.
"In our defence, we don't care about randomly fighting you." Han responds.
"Fuck you too." Jin exclaims, blowing a raspberry at Han as if he were a kid.
"I'm not interested. Besides, Mira and I already fuck every night." Han tells him, getting a slap on his shoulder from Mira. "What? It's true! You were the one that wanted to try the- OUCH!!!" Han exclaims as Mira kicks him in the balls to shut him up. All the boys collectively wince for their fallen comrade.
"So long Han Junior." Denki says, saluting to Han as a joke.
"Gravity... Force." Han mutters as Denki falls to the ground from the excess gravity.
"So, you guys want some lunch?" Ochako asks the group.
"Sure." The group answers.
"I'll help." Izuku says as he follows Ochako to the kitchen.
"I'll come too, if that's fine with you all." Liebe offers as the three of them head to the kitchen.