Shaping Up

Chris and Momo just stared at Jason and Shoto. The start of the school day was the same as any other day since the two love birds had gotten together: Shoto was sitting on Jason's lap. The two liked cuddling before class. Momo sighed. "...I'm starting to think getting them together was a bad idea." Chris looked over. "Why?" "Because now we have to watch them do this every morning." Kirishima chuckled a bit. "You only have yourself to blame for this." Momo looked down, feigning shame. "...I know…" Mina and Chris laughed a little. Aizawa walked in. Shoto kissed her boyfriend before getting up and sitting in her seat directly in front of Jason.

"Alright class, as you already know, you only have three months left in your first year." The class began to cheer. Aizawa waited for silence before continuing. "Normally, this would be the time for you all to be studying for your practical exam at the end of the year. This year is different however." The class was confused. "You all aren't like the other classes we've had to train. You have more experience in your first year than most second year students do. Not to mention we're now in an era without All Might." Jason and Chris both perked up, not knowing what their teacher had planned. Aizawa sighed. "So the teachers have collectively decided that your final this year will be to take the Probationary Hero License Exam in two months." There was nervous talk among the students. Aizawa raised a hand, silencing the class. "Any exam we hold here wouldn't be challenging enough, so this will be considered your final. If you fail the License Exam, you fail this year and won't be let back in."Aizawa narrowed his eyes. "And I'm not joking this time." Chris looked down at his hands. He wasn't ready for this.

Class 1A walked into Gym Gamma: the training gym for 1st year students. It was filled with rocky terrain. Ectoplasm was there. He split himself into a dozen clones and spread out. Aizawa looked at the class. "We will be in here for an hour a day every day up until the Exam. Get as much training as possible. I want each and every one of you to come up with at least two ultimate moves. It'll give you an edge in the exam." Mina raised her hand. "What's an ultimate move?" "An ultimate move is a technique that only you can do. Something related to your quirk. We heroes use them all the time." Kirishima raised his hand. "So those techniques that heroes shout the names of are ultimate techniques?" "That's correct. If there are no further questions, get to work." The students spread out around the gym.

Mina was practicing near Momo and one of Ectoplasm's many clones. "I like this one! I don't have a name yet, but I'm going to shoot my acid at long range!" She put the bottoms of her palms together and fired her acid. It only went a foot before falling to the ground. Momo just stared at the melting rock. Ectoplasm looked at Mina. "Try putting your hands together completely, leaving a small hole in the middle. The funnel should improve the range of your attack." Mina put her hands together and fired. The acid flew several feet. "Awesome! Thanks Mr. Ectoplasm!" The hero looked at Momo. "Do you have anything?" "Well, my quirk isn't very flashy, but I'm thinking of creating a sword and shield simultaneously and calling it 'Instant Combat'." "I would work on the name, but it sounds like a plan."

Kirishima was with another Ectoplasm clone. "I can harden myself, but I don't know where to go from here." Ectoplasm thought for a second. "...How about you use yourself as a blunt object. Become a bulldozer." Kirishima nodded and charged into one of the giant rocks, carving away with his sharpened fingers. "Woah! It's working!" Ectoplasm nodded approvingly.

A third ectoplasm clone looked down at Shoto. "You already have full mastery of your ice. You even have ultimate moves already. I think it's time to start working on your fire." Shoto looked down at the ground. The hero saw her hesitation. "...Why are you still scared of your flames?" "I'm not scared of my flames. I just don't want to hurt someone close to me again." "You're still worried about the Sport's Festival?" She nodded. "That's what happens when you don't practice using your fire enough. You need to use it in training scenarios more often so you can get better control of the output." "...Yes sir. Thank you, sir."

Chris and Jason were sparring under the supervision of both Aizawa and a few Ectoplasm clones. This wasn't the same as their bloody emotional fight: this was just to test out new ways to manipulate their quirks. Chris planted his feet and fired off some shockwaves. Now that Jason was using his quirk, they did nothing. Chris smirked. "How about this? Florida Smash!" He fired off rapid fire shockwaves from eight fingers. Jason blocked every single one and smiled. "That looks like a great way to throw your opponent off guard." Chris smirked. Jason took a deep breath and planted his feet. "Check this shit out." Red energy consumed his right arm as blue energy consumed his left. "I'm still working on it, but I'm channeling two emotions simultaneously to utilize more power." Aizawa looked down at his phone before looking back up at the students. "Chris. Jason. After we're done here, go to the teachers' lounge. All Might wants to speak to you both."

A very tired All Might sighed. Jason forced a smile. "How are you holding up?" "Well I never thought retiring as a hero would mean becoming a full time teacher." He nervously laughed. Chris forced a smirk. Jason lost his smile as he interrupted. "We weren't called in here for a casual conversation, were we?" "...No, Jason. You're right." All Might sighed as he undid his tie. "...As you both have probably figured out by now, All for One was the villain that caused my near retirement." Both students nodded. All Might leaned back in his chair. "I didn't tell you this before because I thought he was dead, but now I have to tell you everything." Chris and Jason both listened closely as All Might recounted his origin story.

"I'll start with the origin of One for All. It is the combination of two quirks. The first quirk, the quirk that allows the wielder to pass on a quirk, belonged to All for One's younger brother. All for One sought to humiliate his brother and gave him a quirk that would enhance what he had, not knowing his brother had a quirk to begin with. The two quirks combined, forming One for All. That was the day All for One learned he could be beaten. Since then, One for All has been passed on from hero to hero. Each and every wielder of One for All has been murdered by All for One. I was the first one to defeat him. I thought I had killed him, but I was clearly in the wrong."

Jason and Chris were both silent as the tale sunk in. All for One was truly the most dangerous villain the world had ever seen. Jason locked eyes with All Might. "All for One. He has the power to give quirks. Does that mean he can take them as well?" All Might nodded. "That's right." Chris looked up. "Wait. Right before we got attacked in the forest, I overheard that a student named Mirio lost his quirk. Does that mean All for One stole it?" "That's most likely what happened." Jason swore. "The Nomus. The basic ones are just strong, but the big ones with multiple quirks: It's All for One who was creating them, wasn't it?" "It certainly looks that way." Chris looked down at the floor in horror. One day, All for One would be his opponent.

Chris and Jason strolled through the hallway. Their talk with All Might had taken up the rest of the school day. Jason was texting Shoto on his phone. He looked over to see Chris sulking. Jason pocketed his phone. "You doing alright?" "I'm useless." Jason stopped walking. "What are you talking about?" Chris looked up at his friend. "I couldn't fight the Nomu at the USJ, I couldn't stop Stain, and I was too scared to help All Might against All for One. Hell, I couldn't even beat you or Shoto in a one on one fight." Jason sighed. "Look, don't even think about All for One. That guy survived All Might for crying out loud. As far as your other fights, that is less to do with you and more to do with how you fight. You just need more combat experience and training. I'm always glad to help you with the training and experience will come with time." Jason started walking again. Chris called out to him. "Jason." Jason turned around. "What do you think I should do?" Jason crossed his arms and thought. "...You have the mind and heart of a hero. You need to turn your body into a weapon: every part of you needs to become a lethal fighting machine. Only then will you start to see real improvement in your fighting abilities." Chris nodded as the two parted ways.

The following day, Chris knocked on the support class's door. Their teacher answered. It was Power Loader. "Hello?" "Hello. I called ahead this morning." "Chris, right?" "Yes sir." "Come on in." The short orange haired hero stepped away from the door, allowing Chris to enter. The support class students were working hard on creating equipment that would one day be used by heroes. Power Loader sat at his personal desk. "So you said you wanted your costume to be redesigned to improve your fighting. Could you elaborate a little?" Chris sat in a nearby chair. "Well, my current fighting style is to punch the bad guy really hard. It hasn't been working out for me all that well. I'm changing up how I fight, and I would like some help redesigning my costume to help out." Power Loader took out a pencil and paper. "Alright, I'll start sketching while you start explaining."

Aizawa looked around the gym with an approving nod. All Might walked up to his fellow teacher. "How is the class doing?" "Class 1A is showing great progress. Jason is showing exceptional improvement." Jason took a deep breath as he focused all of his emotion into his index finger. "Every emotion, but only a little bit. Just a small amount." Jason released the devastating flick, completely destroying the Ectoplasm clone and shattering the rocks past it. Jason smirked. Chris entered the room, his new costume ready. He was going to ask All Might what he thought, but then some debris, dislodged by Jason's attack, began to fall. What resulted was a chain reaction that caused a large rock to fall at high speed. All Might's eyes widened. Aizawa wasn't paying attention until it was too late. Jason began powering up his flick in an attempt to stop the rock from hurting anyone. "Damn it!" Chris leaped forward, shattering the rock. Everyone in the room had stopped what they were doing. Chris landed, cracking the ground beneath him. His new costume was still the same grey uniform that resembled All Might's Golden Age outfit. However, he now has silver metal gauntlets to put more momentum into his punches and has black steel toe boots, which will allow for devastating kicks. Chris was also experimenting with a new fighting style. Chris stood up tall. Jason was smiling down at him. All Might couldn't contain his excitement. Chris smirked. His new style would focus on using every part of his body to inflict maximum destruction on an opponent. He needed to become a weapon. That's what inspired his new fighting style.

One for All: Sword Style.