40 Training, cooking, talking and dying.
The Wild Wild Pussycats base looked like a scene from Hell. Discharges of electricity, lasers flying into the skies, blocks of ice that melt only to be replaced by new ones. Screams rang out from almost everywhere, and the air smelled of sweat and wet metal.
Harry did not even notice the arrival of Class 1-B, he was passing the constantly changing obstacle course for a while. And each time he transformed his body parts into a new hybrid form between animal and human. He ended up finding the best combination for himself that he can use with the rest of his Quirks.
On the back of the teenager were all the same demonic wings, but they increased to three meters in span and. His skin was replaced with s black Basilisk's hide, and now he had claws on his hands and feet. Harry's eyes also changed and his pupils became vertical, giving him thermal and night vision. Potter no longer knew which body parts he was using to base his shape, he only knew that it worked.
The teenager began to run through the obstacle course again, flying at high speeds, low to the ground. If he rises into the air, he will be knocked down with an earth ball from Pixy Bob. He dodged Todoroki's ice, flapping his wings and dodging to the right, but an earth spike was already waiting for him. Harry, who was not fully used to his wings, but was a born flyer, only on pure instincts bent his body at an impossible angle and avoided a collision. He used Envy to add joints throughout his body and also increased the flexibility of his bones.
Potter grabbed the spike with his feet and used it as a platform to push forward. The force of the jump cracked it and Harry shot forward like an arrow. He dodged Aoyama's lasers and the wild animals that Koda had sent to him. Then a sledgehammer thrown by Tiger flew at great speed and hit Harry right in the temple. The teenager fell to the ground and shook his head to get rid of the dizziness.
"That's all you got?! Now get up on your feet and continue, meatbag! That's the meaning of Plus Ultra!!"
Class 1-B students stared at this scene in shock and got sweaty palms at the thought that they might be next.
"Ах ты уебанский говноед! Конечно, давайте пизданем ученика кувалдой, ебать его жизнь портовую шлюху! Ведь каждый может поймать удар этой двадцати, сука, киллограмовой хуйни черепом, хуепутоло недоношеное. Где блядские защитники детей когда эти недоебанные мрази нужны больше всего. А блять!? Пиздец, я бы согласился даже на ножи, но ебанная кувалда? Идите вы нахуй." (A lot of untranslatable Russian swear words, but mostly complaints about the fact that a sledgehammer flew into his head.)
Momo coughed as she choked on a piece of cake, recognizing a couple of the most... Polite curses. From the side the teenager heard the evil laugh of Pixie Bob and Harry, with pure hatred in his eyes, glared at her.
"And this is just the beginning of the obstacle course! Now go back to the beginning! You got hit!"
Harry lifted the sledgehammer from the ground and threw it with all his might at Tiger, who only dodged. The blow created a huge crater and Class 1-B went into even greater shock.
"Still not quite sharp!! That means you're not working hard enough!"
Tiger shouted, only for another sledgehammer flew into his direction - the students could not understand where all the sledgehammers came from - which he also dodged.
"Shove it up your ass, fucker!" Potter screamed and flew back to the start of the obstacle course.
---
"Like we said, pampering ended yesterday!!"
Ragdoll said that when the teens finished their training, Class 1-B was receiving the same speech from Tiger and Mandalay right now.
"Wanna eat? Than cook it for yourselves! Today is curry!!"
Pixy Bob said while actively waving her arms. It seemed that the heroine could not sit still for more than four seconds. Harry knew the exact figure was 3.34 seconds. He checked.
"Yes, ma'am..." The half-dead voices of students were heard in response.
"Bwa-ha-ha! You all look worse for wear! That's why this is no mere kitty chow you'll be making!"
Their Vice President scratched his chin in thought and then something clicked in his head.
"But of course... It times of disaster and evacuation, someone needs to fill all the bellies and soothe the souls of fatigued citizens. That too is a part of rescue operations..." He turned to his classmates and raised his hand to the sky, "Naturally, UA is never missing a teaching opportunity!!! So let's make the tastiest curry in the world, everyone!!"
Ida screamed with the purest of motives, not because he wanted the perfect curry so badly. Not at all...
After the teenagers cleaned their bodies of dirt and changed their clothes, they returned to the kitchen. The same heaps of ingredients lay in front of them.
Mina glanced at the piles of ingredients on the table and then at her shaking hands. And then an idea appeared in her head.
"Harry? You said you can cook, right?" With the kindest smile in the world, she asked, "And you have such a convenient Quirk to do a lot of things at once..."
The eyes of the rest of the students who lost yesterday's bet lit up - Ida's were roaring with flames - and each turned to Potter. Although they don't admit it, they were still a little sore after that. Well, that and...
'Fast Making Curry Machine!'
Harry just glanced around the cooking area and red lightning flashed across his sides. Four more hands grew on his body, tearing his green shirt, he can always fix it with alchemy. Godric pulled his hair into a tight bun, while Helga and Rowena moved to his shoulders so as not to interfere with the movement of his wrists. Harry Potter has entered Hell's Chef Mode.
"You bastards, if you think you're just going to stand still and watch the show, then you're fucking wrong." He growled, "Shoto, give me some fire. Ida, Midoriya, and Asui, you're preparing the table. Bakugo, I recognize a cook when I see one, you're preparing meat. Sato, you're making desserts from what you can find. Yaoyorozu, you're making me pans, these are too small. Sero, you're making a slide for plates out of your tape, I don't care how you get rid of the stickiness, just do it. Everyone else except Uraraka and Shoji are preparing the rest of the food, you two will carry the ready meals, with your Quirks it shouldn't be a problem."
The students could only blink in confusion, they did not expect such a reaction from Harry. A sharp refusal, a heavy sigh, or just a glare they expected, but this...
"Well?! Why're ya still standing still like donkeys?! I tell people what to do in the bloody kitchen to follow orders and not stare like idiots! NOW MOVE, YA' TWATS!"
""YES, CHIEF!"" The voices of the teenagers answered him and the hellish kitchen began.
When it came to cooking, Potter's attitude changed immediately. All six of Harry's hands - sometimes even with an extra pair of shadow hands - moved in a quick dance, preparing the curry. Cooking for twenty people was not a problem, he usually helped cook several dishes at once for fifty hungry mouths every day. And he did it perfectly, in the kitchen the teenager became a cruel perfectionist, thanks to the time spent with Petunia for this.
After one and a half, the dish was ready and the students were already trying their portions. Curry and rice lay on their side of the plate and lured even Pixy Bob and Mandalay with their scent. Kirishima froze as he took the first bite, an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.
"And you're telling me that there are people out there somewhere who eat this kind of food every day? Dude, I'm ready to kill for this!!"
Mandalay looked at the kitchen table and a smile appeared on her face as she spotted four plates of curry there. She poked Pixy Bob in the shoulder and pointed to the table. Her friend was in front of her plate in a second and began to eat too.
"Wow, maybe I should steal Harry from Ragdoll, don't you think?"
"Not you too!" Harry groaned and hit his head on the table, it cracked under his forehead.
After that, no one said a word at the table, everyone was busy eating. Nobody noticed how Harry left with two plates into the forest.
Potter surrounded the curry with shadows to keep it warm and went after Kota, the boy went not so far from the Camp and sat on the mountain next to the cave. Harry remembered this place, he was hiding here from the rain two years ago. The child's stomach rumbled and it was at that moment that Harry reached the place with two plates.
"Oi, runt. There's no point in being angry on an empty stomach. It only makes you angrier."
Kota turned sharply to the intruder and glared at him with hatred in his eyes.
"You! How'd you know I was here...?"
Harry just raised an eyebrow and placed one of the plates next to the child, removing his shadows to show a still hot curry.
"Kid, I survived in this forest for two weeks and I know perfectly well the what's and where's. And when I see human footprints, I come to the conclusion that someone passed here. If you don't want to be found, hide your tracks."
Kota glanced at the food and his stomach rumbled again.
"Nope, don't want it. Especially from someone like you. Constantly improving your Quirk, giving these useless advice... So disgusting. Calling yourself "Heroes" or "Villains" and than kill each other in a useless battles. You are all crazy."
Harry plopped down next to Kota, who immediately sat away. The teenager chuckled at his opinion about modern society, the kid thought the same way as he did.
"I totally agree. Even the very name "Hero" is absurd. But that does not mean that they, or we, "are all crazy", as you said."
Kota just folded his arms over his chest and looked doubtfully at the young Hero in front of him.
"Do you always have some kind of "but", will you also say that you are all Saints?"
"No. Then I would be a hypocrite. Most of them are just bastards who work for popularity." The green-eyed teenager calmly replied while tasting the curry, "Huh, too spicy. Well, it worked out anyway."
The child's eyes widened in surprise at the teen's answer.
"You don't consider Heroes... Well, heroes?"
The word itself has been used so much that it has already lost its meaning. Interestingly, only in most countries the Heroes were called that way.
In Russia, they were assigned to the Police Force and everyone continued to live their lives unchanged. For Heroes they did not even have a name, because there this word had too much weight in the country after the Great Revolution of 2094.
In North Korea, every person with a promising quirk immediately came under the direct control of the state and received the necessary training to serve their country. There such people were called quite simply: "Squad Q." Where "Q" is the first letter of the word Quirk.
In China, they were called Death Bringers by the citizens, but on paper they were Peace Makers. If you dared to become a villain in China, then you will not have the most pleasant time...
"Hmm? Not all of them. You should've seen their eyes when they spot the cameras. It's sometimes even scary to look at, some of them even drag out their fights so that the reporters have time to film their actions."
This was a real problem in society. Of course, each Hero had to submit monthly reports on their work to the Hero Commission. But even so, they could take over the actions of the Vigilantes or, as was the case with the Endeavor, students. A few years ago, a hero named Cold Eyes 'stole' thirty arrests of an unknown vigilante. The scandal when people found out about it was incredible.
"Then why are you trying to become a Hero if they are all hungry only for popularity and money?"
Kota asked with the slightest bit of interest, his face still frowning. The kid also began to eat curry and looked in surprise at the completely edible dish. Harry, seeing it in the corner of his eye, smiled, but hid the smile behind his plate.
"I don't care about the title of Hero. All I need is a license to work, and popularity and money can always be obtained in other ways. And not all Heroes are like that. Your parents were wonderful people."
Kota stopped eating and slowly turned his head towards Harry, the true fire of rage burning in the child's eyes.
"What can you know about them?!"
He shouted, jumping up from his seat. His plate flew to the ground only to be caught by one of Potter's hands. He set it down gently and turned to look at Kota.
"I know more about them than about my parents, that's for sure. You know, you and I are a lot alike, Kota. My parents died protecting me from a Villain who wanted to slaughter our entire family. Yours died protecting citizens. I know how it sounds, but I understand how you feel. You feel abandoned. You think that they put the lives of others above their own and even yours. And every night you want only one thing. So that it all turns out to be a nightmare and that your mother wakes you up in the morning."
Kota stared at Harry in shock for a few seconds. He never met a person who could understand his words, everyone just kept saying that his parents met death as real Heroes. But perhaps... Perhaps only an orphan can truly understand another orphan.
Harry handed Kota his plate, with this action taking the child out of his stupor. He just nodded silently and sat down to eat again.
"I won't tell you to start loving Heroes or to become one yourself. This is everyone's choice. Higher Powers knows, there was little choice in my life..." Harry muttered to himself, recalling Dumbledore's imperceptible manipulations, "But you need to let go of your anger. Our parents didn't die protecting others so we could live like grumpy assholes forever. And apologize to Sasaki, she tries very hard so you don't feel unwanted."
Harry grabbed his already empty plate and got up off the ground, brushing the dust off his pants with a second pair of hands. He glanced at Kota, who was sitting and just staring at the sky. Potter could see tears in his eyes and realized that he didn't want to cry in his presence. He turned and walked away, leaving Kota with one last tip.
"Don't stay here long. They'll be worried."
As soon as Harry disappeared from Kota's sight, the boy burst into tears. He had kept all his emotions to himself for too long and now they poured out. That night, Mandalay comforted the crying Kota, who muttered apologies until he fell asleep in her arms.
---
Greed looked at the light from the Training Camp with a huge smile. By the end of the next day, he will have his freedom and a new Philosopher's Stone. Of course, he would like to get full control over Harry's body in order to satisfy his desire for immortality, but everything needs to be done one by one. The homunculus raised his hand and it was covered with impenetrable armor in a second, forcing Greed to frown.
"Slow. Too slow."
In the last week, he began to weaken too quickly, his life was coming to an end. Ouroboros knew it, Lust knew it, even Wrath, whom he had not seen alive - a strange word for Homunculus - for five years had known it. Right now, he won't even be able to deflect a typical attack from Lust. He needs a Stone. Badly.
"What's wrong, old man, already tired?"
Mustard approached him from behind, loading his revolver. The Homunculus just grinned and resumed his hand.
"I still have a little bit left in me, Kid. I once knew two teenagers your age. They were able to kill God with their bare hands at your age, and you still play with a gun."
The teen just grunted and put the gun back in his pocket, forcing Greed to facepalm.
"Giran praised your intelligence and said that you would be a great addition to the team. Tell me, do you know what happens when you put a revolver, that basically has no safety measures, in your pocket and go for a run? I will answer. You will not have children in the future."
The Mustard's mask prevented Homunculus from seeing his face, but he could easily sense his irritation.
"I don't give a fuck about the safety of his balls, are we going down already? My blood is boiling here."
The mask worn by the huge villain distorted his voice, but Greed could recognize this sick bastard anywhere. Muscle was pretty cruel even by Homunculus standards. Most preferred to get rid of living problems quickly and effectively, rather than tearing off their limbs over and over again.
"Shut up, you wackjobs. Not yet... We wait until all ten are here."
Behind the villains, the footsteps of three people were heard, and the remaining members of the Vanguard Squad came to the hill.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
Magne brought with him a huge metal beam, which he used as his primary weapon. The Spinner, who was standing next to him, simply put the Stain mask on his face, his weapons hidden in his baggy suit.
"Job... A job..." Moonfish muttered.
"Doesn't matter how many punks with ambition you bring along. That only increases the risks." Dabi spread his arms wide, wanting to feel more cold wind on his skin, "It's far better to have a small number of experienced Elites."
Greed, as the leader of many gangs in the past, agreed with Dabi. But he certainly wasn't going to tell the grilled bastard about it.
"First, we'll make them understand, that their peace rests in our hands."
Greed turned his gaze back to the Training Camp, which right now was a home to the largest accumulation of the Philosopher's Stones. Once he gets what he wants, he can begin the second part of his plan. His name was Greed for more than just sounding good after all.
'Soon I will take my freedom.'
