Chapter 29 - Challenge... accepted?

Author's Note: Sorry about the lack of update; school really got busy, and I had to practice for a marathon, which always left me tired. Anyway, ENJOY!

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"So, who or how do we become ranked one within the class?"

It was an innocent question from one of the strongest but quietest students in the class. He kept to himself and didn't bother classmates for casual banter or training. Almost as if he embodied his windy quirk, always there but in silence.

All heads turned to him, then directly back at Ban, searching for answers. Grinning excitedly, "You're silent most of the time, yet you know how to drop a bomb, eh?" Ban pointed to Alatus, but the boy in question only tilted his head with a confused face.

'What is with all the staring?' Alatus thought, observing how his classmates were staring at everyone. This is true; everyone was staring at each other. All thinking whether they could beat this and this.

"Anyway," Ban spoke in ponder, "What exactly is number 1 in society?" He asked philosophically, something entirely uncharacteristic. So much so that his students looked at him weirdly.

Seeing their morphed looks, the undying chuckled, "If you haven't noticed, there aren't any numerical rankings in the Academy, only categorical ranks. And why is that?"

Raiden raised her hand to answer his question, "Shoot your answer," Ban finger gunned. "It is so that once the students leave the Academy's doors, they aren't mentally fixated on a number that defined them for only four short years?" She spoke questionably.

"100% right on the money!" The teacher praised her. "It is precisely what Raiden said. The Academy does not want you fixated on a number that defined you for your time studying to be a Hero here. The environment inside here is much more controlled inside than out there.

"Over the years of this Academy's standing, many students have gone on to take the top spots of the International ranks for Heroes worldwide. And it's due to the mindset that we teach inside our walls.

"Being Number 1 inside a school does NOT," he emphasized heavily, "translate to Number 1 outside. You have so many variables and students and Heroes from top Hero schools all vying for the top. So, what assures you of your school ranking to translate to the outside world?"

"Saving more citizens? Image? Take, for example, New York's Spider-man; he recorded fewer saves than Iron Man during his early years, yet Spider-man rose to his current fame and status faster than Iron Man did. And from the records, Iron Man was top in his class, while Spider-Man was not."

Their teacher's words put some things into perspective about how fickle ranking works. But Leo did not genuinely care in the slightest for rank. Right now, his current and primary goal is about his family. Get the license first; rank can come any time.

With students having thoughts stewing in their heads, another student threw a question. "So, teach. For you, who's the top student?" Who else can add oil to the fire but Percy? With a cherry on top, Percy had a smirk on his features, happy with how all his classmates snapped in attention.

The undying sighed and felt veins in his head pop, 'Why are kids so fixated on rank?' He groaned internally. His body language drooping, tired of these stress-inducing questions.

Another reason Ban can't just answer for the sake of it is that not everything is black and white. This is not an academic subject where everything can be based on grades.

"Sigh, you kids are driving me up the ass," He strained as he kneaded his head. "The top is subjective, truly speaking. I prefer survivability, like what my regeneration provides for me. And to put things into that category, Leo takes the cake for his robust and durable body."

Leo, who was innocently listening, is now the brunt of his classmate's stares. He could only shake his head, but his mouth lied. He was grinning with pride which infuriated his classmates.

"Leo! Wipe that grin off your face!" the sea-green-eyed student wailed at Leo, earning some giggles from the class. But it seemed Ban wasn't finished.

"Now, if you were to ask a Doctor who the top is for this class, your resident healer, Angela, will take their vote without question. Which is why the top is subjective. Even Captain Celebrity, one of our top 10, can't heal with force."

"Yahoo! Haha! You guys and your violence~ What will you do without me?" Angela celebrated the praise. Unlike Leo, who got stares of challenges, Angela got grateful looks.

There is an unsaid rule in the Hero profession. Never. Fuck. With. A. Healer.

They can prevent you from dying or acquiring career-ending injuries. And not every healer is a Saint that will genuinely try to perfectly heal your wounds; some are petty enough to heal your injuries but insufficient to recover 100%. Similar to how torn muscles of pre-quirk era sports heal. They're good but slowly getting worse over time.

And Ban's words managed to curb infighting from happening within his class. Children are like that. Always trying to gain attention, and what better attention there is if not the top?

Children won't understand it now, but the ones at the top will only realize the heavy responsibilities the rank comes with. You're number one? There's a national crisis; better get to it. Oh, you want to protect your family first? Then a public backlash is just waiting to happen.

People don't associate Heroes to humans. They'll unconsciously think of you as an object to ALWAYS protect them. If you don't make them feel they are prioritized, the Hero in question is a failure. Another reason the media is a vital tool for Heroes is because it sends their message across.

However, there are cases where people's misfortunes are blamed on Heroes. How they weren't there to save them in their time of need and all that mush.

People entering the Hero business will never see its dark side first, always the glam, money, and fame shown by the media. After all, no one wants a sad story.

This is why the Academy made the ranks(Bronze-Platinum), to prepare students on what to expect. Society will place heavy expectations and responsibilities on them, the people from below vying and clawing their way to the top, ready to take their spot if given a chance. If you can't handle the spotlight, the Academy will show you different alternatives. Underground Heroics is one of them.

Anyway, after some small discussion with Ban and his class about their progress, he dismissed them. But before they left, he reminded them once again.

"Remember, no one in your class is after your position. You can't switch platinum with platinum. You should be wary of those below. Rank doesn't determine everything. Now, off you go to your next class, ya brats~!" He waved away youth-like. With how he acts, people forget he's a grandpa already.

Looking and being physically young does something to the mind, they guess.

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After their academics classes, Ban's students are eating in the cafeteria, a rest period before their physical training classes. All in their little groups. One has Ned and Miles, and the other has Leo, Percy, Diana, and Ei talking at one table. Though Angela hopped onto their little discussion this time. She does that, friendly with everyone, getting to know them all. And you have the loner, Alatus, eating his almond tofu in some corner. Finally, you have the annoying duo. Eren Yaeger and Arlo, the quirk supremacist.

Eren is someone who's rather vocal about his determination to reach the top, so much so that he has people at the ready to knock his ass down a peg.

And you have the prick, Arlo, who's garnering hate from different departments at this point already. Yet he doesn't realize it. Maybe because in his last school, he was the unique and special one, with people fawning over his social class and quirk. But in SHIELD Academy, where every exceptional and genius kid from their previous school has enrolled, no one will think of the person next to them as impressive anymore. You'll only get attention if you're the cherry(Platinum) on the top or your character is just burning crap, ergo, Arlo.

So, it wasn't surprising when people from different ranks in the Heroics department started walking over to them. Ready to dish out their own challenges.

And one such student had the bright idea to try and intimidate Leo while throwing a challenge.

The student in question was Gold-ranked; he had the characteristics of a shark. Buff and blubbery in build, tough greyish-blue skin, hands with webbed fingers, completely black eyes, a dorsal fin along his spine, and to top it off, his head was shaped like... a shark.

Around the cafeteria chatter, some were gossiping about what was about to go down. Some had the urge to record such a thing, but it was strictly prohibited. Only second-year platinum and above students can use their phones openly on campus. And that is after being reminded of the extensive ramifications of proper usage of such devices.

The reason being? Trust. The Academy does not trust new students; only second-year platinum and above(Any ranks) are trusted after the school adequately investigates the students' background of any villainous activity.

Anyway, the mutant student walked to Leo's table with confidence and much swagger with how he walked, arms moving in broad strides, or maybe it's just how his quirk's physiology made it so.

His intentions of challenging Leo were also downright malicious with how he kept licking the sharp rows of teeth within his jaw. And with such intentions hammering at Leo, his danger-sensing didn't even have to warn him much.

Looking to the side, Leo saw the walking shark making his way for him, causing his classmates to look in the direction he was facing as well. "Tsk tsk tsk, the first victim has brought himself on a silver platter. I wonder who's he going to challenge?" Angela said while thinking out loud, with a finger to her chin.

"Oh, boy! I hope he picks me, someone who literally controls water and liquid. I could literally dry him the fuck out," what Percy just said was sus, entirely so.

"Hm, so you'd suck the liquid out of him, Percy?" Leo asked 'innocently,' laying a trap card for his friend. "100%. That would be a piece of cake; I would suck him dry with no sweat."

Diana, hearing the convo, couldn't help but palm her face, "Percy, if you ever swing for the other team, we support you." With her words, Percy's face morphed into confusion... then slowly, a dawning realization fell on him.

"Leo! You did that on purpose!" Swinging his fingers, he bended a bit of water and forced a bit of Leo's gastric juices to rise up, but not enough to induce vomiting. "Urk!" Leo almost, key word, almost felt like hurling.

With a pointed glare, Leo said in a serious tone, "Do that again, and I'd direct my projectile at you." Smirking at Leo, "I'd Uno reverse it back to you while the vomit is still mid-air."

As this discussion was going on, Raiden merely stared at the growing frustration of the shark boy. She was amused at how quick their attention bounced from fighting the heteromorph into slugging vomit at each other.

Ladies and Gentlemen, her friends.

Anyway, she watched the shark yap away while Leo and Percy completely forgot about it, him or she? She couldn't quite tell. Though she supposed Leo didn't forget, but completely ignored the challenger.

And just like a blowing kettle, the student exploded like a murderous great white shark. With both beefy hands in the air, he shouted with a gurgling voice. "DON'T. IGNORE. ME!"

Everything happened fast... well, not for her. She was used to and trained for it. She glanced an eye at Leo and saw his shirt glowing golden, with bits of light escaping his uniform. 'Mhm, he's got it covered then.'

All this happened without Leo batting an eye to the side; talk about a power move, she thought.

And before the Shark teen's hands hammered at the table and flung all their food to the heavens, the beefy greyish-blue hands stopped abruptly. The sudden stop created quite the air pressure, but just enough to ruffle their hair.

Looking now, the inhabitants of the cafeteria saw Leo's palms wide open, unmoving, but his golden markings glowing. They were stunned, well, the first years were stunned. The second-years and above were merely entertained; they had seen scenes like this play out before. Nothing new, but they did take note of how Leo perfectly negated the shock of the attack.

Some thought they could also repeat Leo's stunt, the usual teenage egos wanting to outdo others.

But hey, at least he got much of Leo's attention now. Looking around and thinking back, Leo was sure they would get detentions if a fight suddenly broke out. Or maybe just the shark boy, self-defense and all.

Facing the student, his face didn't morph into anger or anything, just plain annoyance. Though, he did clasp the beefy hands and squeeze the hands with considerable force, enough to hear the slight crunching of bones.

*Crack!*

"ARHHHH!" The shark screamed in agony; he, too, was shocked when he attacked since nothing happened. And when he tried removing his hands, he discovered he couldn't.

And here he was, screaming in agony while his hands were still locked into a gauntleted vice-grip. Yes, Leo had to summon his armored gauntlet, considering his hands weren't freakishly wide enough to vice-grip mutant shark hands, maybe a portion of it.

"Look, I got your challenge, but we're in the middle of eating. So, please go and shout elsewhere, alright? Thanks!" Leo said with a grin, not even announcing that he had broken the guy's hands.

Seeing such a boss move done, Percy didn't want to get outdone. 'A little feeling in his body... and a flick of the hand... viola~!'

Yes.

He made the shark boy puke his lunch out, drenching their area with a nauseating smell of raw fish churning in a belly.

Raiden could only shake her head and play the part, "I know squids release ink when afraid to escape, but must you release quite the amount of guts to escape this scene you created as well?"

If sharks could blush in embarrassment, he would. Frankly, he didn't know why he vomited out of nowhere; he chucked it down to what the purple head said, being afraid. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the block, but the way Raiden talked was with intellectual sophistication that made you believe her words.

Leo turned to Percy when everything was over, "Did you really have to make him vomit? We had to switch tables because of the smell!" he asked incredulously.

"What?" Percy raised his arms innocently, "I did no such thing; maybe it really is what, like Raiden said, eh?"

He could only shake at his friend's antics.

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CHEERS!