Chapter 7.5: Pro Training

The scene picks up where we left off after Arc and Izuku stop screaming and calm down. The old man soon got up and turned the lights on. 

Gran Torino: Whoopsy. I was carrying a nice big plate of sausages covered in ketchup when I accidentally tripped and fell down. Clumsy me. Now, who did you two say you were?

Arcturus: I'm Arcturus Farron, and this is Izuku Midoriya.

Izuku: We're from UA High School.

Gran Torino: (holds a hand up to his ear) You're who now?

Izuku: Izuku Midoriya and Arcturus Farron.

Gran Torino: So, what're your names, boys?

Arc had to resist the urge to face palm himself. He and Izuku looked at the old man in front of them as they saw him holding his cane and shaking a bit. Both of them knew he would be old, but neither expected the man to be senile as well. He then sits down.

Gran Torino: I could really use some food.

Izuku: Some food?

Gran Torino: Toshinori?

Arcturus: Neither of us! (points to himself) Farron! (points to Izuku) Midoriya!

Gran Torino: (blank stare) 

Arcturus: Okay, you know what? We're gonna need to make a quick phone call.

The two went out as Izuku pulls out his phone.

Izuku: (whispers to Arc) We should let All Might know the state this guy's in.

Arcturus: (whispers) Yeah, this guy's a bit out of wack for us.

They then hear something clicking, and turn around to see the man opening their suitcases.

Arcturus: Hey! What're you doing?! Get out of those! 

Gran Torino: Why don't one of you try throwing a One For All smash at me? And the other one runs at super speed. (Arc and Izuku gasp) I wanna know how far you've come in terms of handling those powers. These are some pretty sweet costumes. Now where're those attacks?  

Now that had their attention as it was like the man was completely different from before. At least for a moment.

Gran Torino: Hey, what are you kids doing here?

Arcturus and Izuku: (thoughts, dumbstruck) What the heck is with this guy?!

???: Honestly, Gran, you shouldn't expect them to get it right away.

Surprised by the voice, the boys look up saw another man in the room at the far back. He had tan skin, red and black spiked hair, red eyes, wore a black leather jacket with pants, white gloves, and sleek-looking shoes.

(The first image is what he looks like in general, and the second image is his hero costume.)

???: From what we've gathered, both are a bit slow. 

Gran Torino: If I recall, so were you when you were their age.

Izuku: We're here because we need to get stronger. Myself, especially. I need to learn how to control One For All. I have to get so much better at it, and fast. We're also here because neither of us know how much time All Might has left.

Gran Torino: ...

???: ...

Arcturus: Not to be rude, but if you're both just gonna waste our time, then there's no reason for us to be here.

???: Hmph! Just like your old man.

Arcturus: Huh?

All the sudden, he and Gran Torino zoom around the room with Torino jumping around and the man moving in yellow-orange lightning. Arc and Izuku were surprised by the display as it was unexpected.

Izuku: (thoughts)  Whoa! They're fast like Arc!

Arcturus: (thoughts) The old man's fast. And the other guy's fast like me. No, scratch that, he's even faster!

They stop with Gran Torino landing above the door frame and the man in front of them with his arms crossed.

Gran Torino: (grins) It's time for you two to show us what you can do, ya newbies. He, he, he! We watched the UA Sports Festival on television. The way the green haired one used his power was unthinkable. Reckless! He's not training him well. He may be the symbol of peace and the number one hero, but All Might's a total movie when it comes to teaching. I can only imagine what a blunder he is in the classroom.

That quote makes the boys remember back when All Might first taught their class. It was something similar, like he was playing two different sides. This made them realize he was All Might's teacher.

???: And with you, Speedster, your quirk is strong, but you're barely scratching the surface of its power. Even if you did that to help your friend, holding back like that was honestly laughable to my eyes.

Arcturus: Hold on, just who are you?

Shadow: My codename is Shadow. I was called here by Gran Torino to help train you, Farron. And think of this as me repaying back to your father.

Arcturus: Huh?

Gran Torino: Neither of us can't stand to at you both use your quirks the way you both did, so I suppose we'll have to teach you. Now, hurry and get your costumes on.

Arcturus and Izuku: (determined smiles) We're ready! We look forward to working with you!

Soon enough, the boys switched to their costumes. Izuku's had gone through a redesign with new gloves, pads, accessories, and face mask.

Arcturus: Like the new look. Looks more protective than the first version.

Izuku: Thanks. (to the teachers) All right. Let's get started.

Gran Torino: Show us a smash.

Izuku: Uh. You're sure this is a good idea? I'm kind of worried since I've never used this suit before. Plus, you know, this place is small. And, if I accidentally fired a smash at 100 percent, then your body won't be able to handle it.

Arcturus: Buddy, I think you're underestimating them just a bit. I mean, Gran Torino here did teach All Might.

Gran Torino: You should listen to your friend here. Speaking of which... Shadow, you can start training him.

Shadow: (smirks) Good. Let's go for a run.

It was a split second, but Arc blocks a strike from Shadow that caused him to skid out of the building. He regains his balance, and his body begins sparking with electricity. The speedsters take off and were running in two streams of lightning. Arc was doing his normal run while to looked like Shadow was roller skating as his feet were slightly off the ground.

Shadow: Not bad with your recovery time. Most don't even get a chance to block the first strike.  

Arcturus: Mom always taught me to be ready for stuff like that. 

Shadow: Let's see how well that works for you.

They began throwing strikes and dodging. All the sudden, Shadow disappears, catching Arc by surprise.

Arcturus: What the-?

He's suddenly kicked in the face and sent off as Shadow disappears again and reappears away to catch him by the face and slam him to the ground.

Arcturus: How did you do that?

Shadow: Our quirks are similar, yes. But I'm full of more surprises than you think.

Present Mic: Military G.U.N. Hero Adrian Ichikawa. Hero name—Shadow. Quirk—Chaotic Power. While similar to Arc's Speed Force, Shadow's actually faster with his own abilities giving him an advantage along with his military capabilities. Not to mention his support items boosting his moves, such as his cool sneakers that let him roller skate.

Shadow: (to the audience) They're air-shoes.

Arcturus spin kicks him off and the two went back to running. They ran all throughout the city with Shadow beating him as Arc tries to get a hit on him.

Arcturus: (thoughts) He really is faster than me! I can't land a hit on him! My best option is to wait for him to give me an opening.

They threw strikes for a bit, then Arc sees an opening.

Arcturus: (thoughts) Yes! This is my chance!

He goes in, but all the sudden, the fist goes right through Shadow.

Arcturus: (shocked) What?!

Shadow: (smirks) Nice try.

He takes Arc's distraction to grab him, run back to Gran Torino's place, and use him as a shield for Izuku's charged up fist aimed for Torino, making Arc take the hit instead. He and Torino then knock the boys down and they were defeated.

Gran Torino: Nice try, greenhorn. But you're a little stiff! And there's discord in your mind. That's why I bested you. What's your take, Shadow?

Shadow: The same. Farron's got the power, but is limiting himself on his capabilities.

Izuku: Crap, I thought for sure I gonna land that punch.

Arcturus: You did, but on me.

Gran Torino: (to Izuku) Listen to me. The way you used One For All in the cavalry battle and the tournament showed that you're adjusting to the quirk. You understand its fundamentals. But your admiration for All Might and sense of loyalty to him are shackles on you.

Izuku: "Shackles"? But how?

Gran Torino: It's true that you need to get stronger, and quickly. Time waits for no man. Real villains don't care if you've reached your full potential yet. And you think One For All is more special than it really is.

Shadow: (to Arc) It's clear you have the basic ideas of a speedster, including of having your whole body being charged up with the power. However, there're more tricks you can do with it. Not every speedster has these capabilities, but since our quirks are almost the same, you can do more than just run. 

Arcturus: How so? During the fight, I saw you kept disappearing, and when I threw that last punch, it went right through you. Literally. How did you do that?

Shadow: I wasn't exactly disappearing, but that's for a later one. As for passing through me, that's one of the skills I'm seeking to teach you.

Gran Torino: You can do that later. For now, let's go buy some grub while you two clean this place up. 

The grownups left and the boys were left with their mentors words.

(timeskip) 

Some time later, Arc was with Shadow as they were discussing on more training. They were on the roof where Shadow had set up a solid block of wood away from them. But before training, Arc wanted to learn more about the man. 

Arcturus: So, before we started training, you said you were doing this to repay my dad. What did you mean by that?

Shadow: Before joining the military, I was a student of your parents. Nightfall taught me everything in combat, and Lightning helped be get a better understanding of my quirk. It's thanks to them I'm part of the Guardian Units of Nations (G.U.N.) and the person I am today. I owe them everything, so helping you become a hero is my way of repaying them back.

Arcturus: (narrator) The Guardian Units of Nations are a special group of certain heroes. While most of society sees heroes being well known in the public eye, there's many who work for the government like air force, navy, marines, army, you name it. There's also some connected to occupations like the Public Safety Commission, where they do the hard jobs no one else does. G.U.N. is well known for those kinds of missions like black ops. Especially when many of them don't come back.

Shadow: Now then, let's get started on learning some new tricks.

Arcturus: Right!

Shadow: The first thing I'm teaching you is a move I call Phasing. When you threw that last punch at me, I vibrated my molecules at the natural frequency of the air around me, causing my cells to be in a state of excitement that allowed my body to pass through solid objects.

To show this, his right arm starts moving fast and stick it right through the block. Arc looks closer and saw no signs of damage to the structure and the arm was in the block.

Shadow: With this move, I can have either a singular part of my body moving like that, or even my entire body. Either way, as long as I maintain the speed, I can pass through this. (Pulls the arm out)

Arcturus: Whoa! That's so cool!

Shadow: Yes. However, there's more to understand about it. This move can also be used as a weapon on your opponents, such as interrogation or even elimination.

Arcturus: Elimination?

Shadow: As I said before, this move only works by maintaining the speed. Example, if I had a target that I needed information from, I could use this move by having my hand at their heart. I need to maintain the speed long enough to get the info and then remove it before stopping. If I stop for even a second, their heart stops as well.

Arcturus: This move can actually kill someone?!

Shadow: If you're not careful, yes. Which is why until you get the full understanding of it, your task is to work on moving through non-living things. In this part, you're to run around the roof and build up speed to feel the natural airflow around you. Then, when the time is right, run straight to the block and try to phase right through it. 

Arcturus: Are you serious?

Shadow: I'm always serious.

Getting his mentor's words, Arc crouches down, begins charging up his body, and runs around in blue lightning. After a few laps, he runs to the block, old to slam right into it and fall on his back.  

Arcturus: (groans) Damnit.

Shadow: Try again.

Arc gets up, runs around, smacks into the block, falls on the ground.

Shadow: Again.

Arc gets up, runs around, smacks into the block, falls on the ground.

Shadow: You're too slow. Again.

Arcturus: (groans in anger while getting up)

He tries again, but was met with the exact same results.

(time-skip) 

The next day came by, and the boys had looked banged up with Izuku looking tired and Arc having a bandage on his nose.

Gran Torino: What happened to you two?

Izuku: Well... I was training on my own yesterday and went too far.

Arcturus: Shadow tried to teach me a new move, but the only thing I accomplished was getting a broken nose.

Shadow: It'll heal in no time.

Izuku: (to Gran Torino) I tried to take everything you said to me and put it into practice, but it was just no good. Heh. Obviously I still have a long way to go.

Gran Torino: It's your first time trying, so it's to be expected. Same thing with you, Speedy. That is how training works. Of course, I suppose All Might can't wrap his mind around that. He was pretty much able to use One For All right off the bat, and Claire wasn't as fast as her son, so I taught them in a different manner. 'Course, All Might had the body going for him, so there's that.  

Izuku: Wait, you taught both Lightning and All Might at the same time? What were they like?

Gran Torino thinks and said it was all combat training for them which makes the boys nervous and understood why All Might looked scared talking about his teacher. He said he had to use difficult training as he was entrusted to them by an old friend who died years ago. 

Izuku asked about it, but was cut off by the sound of the doorbell. They saw it was a delivery and it distracted them enough to drop the topic. The box was unwrapped and they saw the contents of it.

Izuku: A microwave?

Gran Torino: Yeah, for some reason, mine broke yesterday. So I bought a new one.

Arcturus: What? 

Izuku: (thoughts) I can't tell if he's being serious or not.

Gran Torino: So, whaddaya say we heat up some of that frozen food I bought yesterday? It'll be good.

Shadow: All you got were deserts.

Gran Torino: What can I say, I like the finer things in life.

Shadow shakes his head and runs out where he and Arc have their tall plates of food.

Arcturus: You have high metabolism, too?

Shadow: It was annoying after a while. My fiancé does like it as it gives her an excuse to cook and bake more.

Arcturus: Oh, you're getting married? Congrats.

The microwave soon goes off and Izuku puts down two plates of the pastries. Gran Torino goes to take a bite, but found they were still frozen.

Izuku: Ah— No way! I'm positive that I microwaved them like it said to.

Gran Torino: What are you an idiot? You stuck a huge plate in there, didn't you? If you do that, there's no room for it to turn. So only one part of it gets hot. Have you never done this before?!

Arcturus: Jeez, never knew someone would get so passionate about a taiyaki.

Izuku: (deadpanned) Says the guy who gets into a passion about bread and cannolis.

Arcturus: (narrows his eyes) Do not get started with me again.

Izuku suddenly stops and thinks a bit. All the sudden, he looked like he had an epiphany.

Izuku: (gasps) I've got it! Whoa, Gran Torino, Arc, Shadow! (grabs a taiyaki) I see now! The frozen pastry in my hand is me!

Shadow: Huh?

Gran Torino: No it's not. Are you okay?

Arcturus: Wait, he's done this before with comparing foods. Go on, give us your explanation.

Izuku: (sets the treat down) Up until now, I've just been summoning One For All. Only when I really need it. In the places I need it. Like flipping on some kind of switch. But if I do that, my reaction time gets slower and slower with every move. Which means...

His body then begins to glow with red veins appearing charged up. After they fade, his body begins charging up in green electricity.

Izuku: I just have to leave the power on the whole time. Imagining the energy that used to be focused in one place spreading throughout my entire body!

Gran Torino: (thoughts, smirks) Didn't take him long to figure that out. Good.

Arcturus: Great thinking, buddy. It's the same with my speed. I don't have it in my legs alone, but throughout my entire body.

Shadow: A pastry in the microwave is a pretty boring visualization, kid. You sure you're okay with that?

Izuku: All Might said that about my egg exploding in the microwave already, and it was fine with me.

Gran Torino: (tosses his cane away) So tell me, can you move in this state? 

Izuku: I don't know for sure.

Gran Torino: Wanna give it a try?

Izuku: (smiles) Yes. Let's do this!

Shadow: Before that, this time, both of you attack us.

Arcturus: Alright.

They get up and Gran Torino starts a timer for 3 minutes for the boys to land a single hit on both the teachers. They all zoom around, creating a strong gust of wind in the room. For a little bit, it didn't look like it would work, but for that brief moment, Arc and Izuku just managed to graze the side of the teachers' faces.

Izuku: Oh, man. It's hard to keep it going like that. I guess I still have a lot of work to do.

Arcturus: Just some practice and you'll get it no problem.

Gran Torino: Nice work, you two. You managed to attack me while I had my guard down thanks to your analysis. You both must spent a lot of time thinking about strategies and figuring out how to fight.

Shadow: You've both already grown since yesterday, and this was just the first go at using One For All and Speed Force this way. Midoriya, you're to practice channeling your quirk throughout your whole body until you can turn it on and off on instinct. Farron, keep practicing phasing until you get it down.

Gran Torino: Well, before all that, we still haven't had breakfast. So, why don't you go and hear up those pastries again.

He stops when seeing them on the floor.

Gran Torino: (distraught) THEY'RE ALL RUINED!

Arcturus: Don't worry, I'll go get some more!

Immediately Arc ran out while cleaning up the mess and came back with a fresh box of taiyaki. While it may not look like much, even a little growth like this was a huge step into growing their quirks. Arc and Izuku were keeping a good pace on the track to becoming great heroes.

Chapter 7.5 ended. 

I hope you guys like that part with Izuku and Arc being trained by Gran Torino and Shadow. Let me know at the comments below, peace out and enjoy! 

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