Chapter 23 - Aftermath

Endeavor and Hawks were featured in the news for helping protect the city. They talked about Stain but only mentioned me briefly as "an intern" because I don't have a hero license. They also mentioned Gray but they were just alerting people.

In this world, there was no grand speech by Stain and no heroes to come and "save" us. So Iida, Midoriya, Todoroki, and I weren't publicized for being at the crime scene. The Chief of Police had told us to keep mention our involvement on the down-low.

On my way to school, I think about what I need to do to counter Gray.

'I probably need some type of defensive ability, a sensor ability, and I still need to work on that wide midrange attack.

I've been too reliant on my sharpened senses so I need some kind of thing that allows me to sense around even if my other senses are blocked. I've also been offense-based for most of my techniques so maybe some kind of armor or something made from fire.

As for the wide range attack, I think if I make a field of fire and form spikes that thrust up, that would work.'

As I'm going, I get some weird looks from people walking by. When I was released, the hospital gave me a wheelchair because I couldn't walk, but it was pretty shit.

So I asked Hawks for a quick favor and he delivered.

My wheelchair had nothing special other than reinforcement and two exhausts near the wheels.

I channeled fire through the exhausts and I was able to go faster.

I mean sure it's weird, but we live in a world where horns and tails are a common appearance, so a fire powered wheelchair is nothing special right?

Apparently, it is, cause I get pulled over by two cops.

"Hey kid, you do know that you're not supposed to be using your quirk without a license right?"

"Well you see, I power this wheelchair so that I can move faster. Surely transportation isn't a big issue."

The second police officer leans forward and looks at me, "Hey aren't you that Dragneel kid who won the UA festival."

"Yep, that's me."

"Great performance back then, really amazing. My son admires you a lot."

I don't really know how to respond to that, "That's cool I guess."

The first officer sighs, "Just be careful and don't run over anyone."

"Thanks." I focus fire into the exhaust and I speed away. Usually, I fly above the buildings and I never get called out for using my quirk.

I get to UA without any tickets and while I'm cruising to class, I hear a bunch of whispers around me.

"Isn't that the Dragneel kid."

"What happens to him that he's crippled?"

"I bet I could jump him and win."

"I bet you'll lose an arm and a leg."

I keep on going, ignoring their whispering. When I enter, I notice that Todoroki is still missing.

My appearance causes a commotion. The majority of the class rushes over and asks a bunch of questions.

"What happened!"

"How'd you get so injured."

"You good?"

Iida walks over from behind everyone and stands in front of me. He stares me down before talking.

"Can I talk to you outside?"

"Sure."

We both go outside and he turns to me, and bows very violently.

"I apologize for my reckless actions. It's my fault that you and Todoroki got injured in Hosu. I sincerely apologize."

I take a moment before I reply.

"My injuries have are only slightly related to your actions. I was just too weak to beat my opponent."

"But-"

"Save your apologies for Shoto, he's worse off than me."

"You guys were involved in the Hosu Incident with Stain!!!"

"Who the hell is strong enough to beat Natsu?!?!?!"

"What happened to Todoroki!?!?!?"

I look towards the only person that could've leaked our conversation. Jiro looks nervous as she hides her hands behind her back and looks away.

I continue to stare at her until she finally breaks, "We were interested in what our conversation was about. How can you blame us, Iida wants to talk to you and you're crippled."

"Well shit, I guess we should explain."

We explain the night's events to the class leaving out Midoriya since he wasn't mentioned. Might as well keep him anonymous. I explain that I found Iida and helped him fight Stain. Todoroki came and got severely injured by some villain that came to rescue Stain. I chased that villain and also got beat.

The class asks us a bunch of questions that we answer and Aizawa walks in.

"I had such a peaceful week without you lot. Suit up, we are heading to one of the training zones. All Might will explain more once you get there."

"Are you sure you can participate like that?

I nod and head over, but he stops me again,

"After class, come to Principle Nezu's office. We need to hear the details about Hosu."

I nod again and make my way to the locker rooms.

Kirishima looks concerned as I get dressed, "Oi, are you gonna be good like that?"

Sato adds, "Yeah, you should be recovering."

I smile at them, "Thanks but if t's something I cant do, then I won't. But I do need to get stronger."

We make our way to an area that looks like it's been modeled like an industrial area. There are pipes and factory buildings everywhere. All Might is waiting for us in front of the gate.

"Yo, welcome back to basic hero training. It's been a while since I last saw all of you. Since you've just come back from your internsh.i.p.s, we will do a rescue training race."

Iida raises his hand, "If we are doing rescue training, shouldn't we do this at USJ?"

All Might grins even more, "I'm glad that you asked Iida, this is Field Gamma, a dense area filled with factories, laid out like a labyrinth. There will be four groups of five and those five will be split up on the field. I will be around the middle and call a distress signal. That group will have to race to me and maneuver their way through all of the buildings and obstacles. First to get to me wins. Of course, as heroes, we need to keep damage to buildings to a minimum."

He says that last part while looking towards me and Bakugo. I grin back, and Bakugo looks away with an annoyed face.

"Now let's set the groups up."

I'm in the third group with Bakugo, Kirishima, Uraraka, and Tokoyami.

The first group gets set up while the rest of us head to a viewing area. While we are waiting, we discuss who will win.

"Everyone in this group has good mobility except Midoriya."

"Sero will have the advantage since he can pull himself around with his tape."

"Yeah but Iida is pretty fast, so if he can outpace everyone else he might win."

"Natsu What do you think?"

Everyone turns and looks at me.

"Sero will probably win because he has the mobility advantage."

"START!!!"

The first five students start to head towards All Might. As most people expected, Sero took the lead by taking to the air and using the pipes to pull himself. Then Midoriya caught them by surprise and overtook Sero.

Everyone was surprised as Midoriya showed his new abilities and his movements.

Uraraka points out, "What a minute those are-"

Bakugo glares at the screen, "My Moves."

Then Midoryia slips on a pipe and falls. Sero, Ashido, and Iida overtake him, but he gets up quickly enough and gets to All Might before Ojiro.

Then it's the second group. Sato, Asui, Kaminari, Momo, and Jiro are in this group. The usual argument on whos gonna win and then All Might announces, "START!!!"

Asui has the biggest advantage here. Her natural agility will help her a lot, Momo or Sato will make second. Momo because she can make grappling hooks or something and Sato will use his sugar rush to go faster.

They all take off, and as expected Asui easily takes the lead, leaping over everything. Kaminari desperately tries to keep up, but with his quirk, he can't do much compared to everyone else. Yaoyorozu takes second place by making grappling hooks. Sato rushes into third and Jiro takes fourth. Kaminari gets lost and doesn't finish.

After recovering him, finally, it's my turn. Leaving my wheelchair behind, I glide over to my spot and wait for All Might to begin.

"START!!!"

Using my wings as support, I propel myself with my hands and fly towards All Might. It's effective but, without my legs, a long-term flight is a pain. I can hear Bakugo swearing and I see Tokoyami using Dark Shadow to pull himself forwards.

I make it to the end and collapse on the ground, panting. All Might congratulates me and Bakugo arrives second. Tokoyami manages to grab third and surprisingly Uraraka gets fourth. Kirishima is last and we all go back to the viewing area.

The final group is a group of four because Todoroki is absent. I decide to visualize my new moves and try and work out the small kinks in them. The wide range attack is easy enough, I just need to control the timing, speed, and length of each spike and the range of the field. The defensive one is a little harder because to defend I would need to divert my focus to make it solid enough so that it does its job.

As for the sensing ability, I already have an idea. If I passively release an aura of heat around me, I would be able to sense my surroundings based on fluctuations in the heat.

All I need to do is test these out and work on what needs fixing. With my level of control, I should be able to do it well enough.

The class ends and I head over to Nezu's office. When I get there, Aizawa and Nezu are waiting for me but All Might is absent.

Nezu begins to speak, "Thank you for coming Natsu. I need you to explain exactly what happened that night in Hosu. I begin to explain what happened, from the Nomu's to Stain, and then to Gray.

All Might joins around halfway and sits in to listen.

Once I finish, Nezu asks me a few things, "Can you explain why you knew his name."

I hesitate before answering, "Well he looked like someone I knew, so I thought it was him but I guess not."

Nezu looks at me curiously before continuing, "Ok and can you explain more of his powers and abilities.

"He has an Ice quirk, and he also has notable physical abilities. He can use his ice to make weapons, shields, and structures. He has good hand-to-hand combat skills and also has good weapon skills. Half of his upper body is covered in some kind of dark mark of some sort. It goes from his face, down to his arm. "

"And he rescued Stain?"

"Yes, he specifically said that he was there to rescue Stain."

"Natsu, let me ask you one more question. Do you think that Gray is part of the League?"

"Probably, with the Nomu's attacking, and Stain, the League was somehow involved. So I wouldn't be surprised if Gray is part of the League."

"Ok that's it, thank you for coming."

I head out and make my way to the Support department. It time to get some upgrades.